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HISTORY OF IRELAND,

FROM ITS FIRST SETTLEMENT
TO THE PRESENT TIME;

INCLUDING A PARTICULAR ACCOUNT OF

ITS LITERATURE, MUSIC, ARCHITECTURE,
AND NATURAL RESOURCES;

WITH UPWARDS OF TWO HUNDRED

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

ITS MOST EMINENT MEN;

INTERSPERSED WITH A GREAT NUMBER OF

3rtsl) illclobic0,

ORIGINAL AND SELECTED,

ARRANGED FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS,

AND ILLUSTRATED BY MANY

ANECDOTES OF CELEBRATED IRISHMEN,

AND A

SERIES OF ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTIONS.

THOMAS MOONEY,

LATE OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN.

YOL. I.

BOSTON:

PATRICK DONAHOE, 3 FRANKLIN STREET.

1853.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1845, by

Thomas Moonev,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetta

THIRD EDITION.

44427

PREFACE.

"History's lessons, if you'll read 'em,

Will impart this truth to thee —

Knowledge is* the price of freedom ;

Know yourself, and you are free." — Nation.

History is defined to be a dignified recital of events. Its object is tc
give us the advantages of ages of experience, and its treatment ought to
be such as not only to instruct, but to amuse and to incite.

It should, we conceive, be written to effect this triple purpose : to in-
struct, by a skilful array of events growing naturally out of one another; —
to amuse, by a happy introduction of as much of the characteristic fea-
tures of the persons in the narrative, — the romance of life, as it may be
termed, — as shall not take too much from its dignity ; which introductions
should appear at due intervals in the work, like inns upon a great road, to
afford refreshment to the reader-; — and to incite to deeds of virtue, patriot-
ism, tenderness, and heroism, by duly extolling such as may have distin-
guished themselves by these laudable traits; teaching the young that
by these means only can they hope for the approbation of their contem-
poraries and of posterity. This is the aim of history, to which all its
bearing should tend.

Most histories are written so dryly that they are as unpalatable
as law books. Hence the young mind flies off to novels and romances,
which are fictitious histories, but which possess the exciting and at-
tractive properties that the grave historian casts away. The mind
of youth should be filled with true history as the preparatory course to
the acquisition of other knowledge ; and it should, in my opinion, be
written in familiar language, and interspersed with the most beautiful
flowers of literature, to refresh and delight the mind, and engage its
attention.

The old historians, writing for less sophisticated natures, enveloped their
narratives in poetry, and frei,uently recited them to their auditories, accom-
panying the voice with the sounds of the harp — a mode of conveying
b

V. PRErACE.

nistorical information which was far more effective than thnt adopted by
the moderns. The multitude of every nation, in ancient times, knew the
history of their country tolerably well. But, with all our modern inven-
tions, is this the case now ? Do the multitude in Ireland, England, France,
or America, know the history of their respective countries tolerably well 1
It must be admitted that they do not. Females, in general, know little of
history; and one of the reasons is, that most of the histories we have
are written so gravely, that none but a mind ardently bent on acquiring a
knowledge of the past will toil through the wearisome pages in which it
is deposited.

Entertaining this opinion, which I have formed upon a close observation
of the bent of the public taste, I have constructed my work upon the
ancient plan, restoring poetry and music to their companionship with
history. This, of course, will subject me to the rod of the reviewers; but I
hope to have the multitude on my side, who are always natural in taste
and honest in judgment ; and, if I succeed in this respect, I can afford
to bear the laceration of others. I therefore present my History of
Ireland in a scries of lectures, interspersed with Irish melodies, nearly in
the style in which they were originally delivered by me in New York,
This method of conveying historical information I found to be attractive
and effective in the lecture-room, and I trust it will prove so in my book.
Those who seek the music and the pictures may pause to meditate on
facts that are side by side.

The music is selected from many eminent Irish composers. The col-
lection embraces every measure. It is difficult to select music that will
please every taste ; and some that I have omitted may be much better
than some that I have chosen. The pieces which I have published are
merely specimens; and many of them are linked with the history by an
indissoluble tie. There is yet an unbounded field of Irish music untrod-
den. Perhaps, in some future publication, I may offer a further col-
lection. The songs of my own composition have been arranged for sundry
instruments by Mr. M'Gaughy, and will be found, it is hoped, suggestive
of patriotic sentiment.

In a work which, like this, embraces such a multitude of details re-
specting events and persons, some errors must strike the intelligent reader ;
and it will give me pleasure to receive suggestions for improvement from
any quarter. The severest censure of the reviewers, if founded on sufficieni
grounds, will have my attention. The whole of this work is stereotyped,
and covers seventeen hundred metal plates ; it is in my power; by a
trifling expenditure, to have alterations made in any of its pages. My
life will be well spent in perfecting the work ; and every detection of
error or omission, either by friend or foe, will enable me to carry out the
great object I have in view — the completion of a good History of Ireland.

PREFACE. V

The unreflecting or the prejudiced Protestant may deem this History par-
tial, because he will not find in it any abuse of Catholicism or its clergy.
The enlightened and the patriotic Protestant will perceive that, in common
with the great body of the Irish people, the author dwells in fervent terms
upon the virtue and nationality of the Protestant patriots, dead and living.
Molyneaux, Swift, and Lucas, were Protestants. Grattan, Flood, Bristol,
Charlemont, and Curran, were Protestants. The Emmets, O'Connor,
Tone, Rowan, Russell, were Protestants. These are among our canonized
patriots, the concentred rays of whose genius form one bright beacon to
illumine our path in exile, and our road to freedom. In our own day,
O'Brien, Grattan, Steele, Davis, Barrett, Gray, Seaver, Clements, and
others, who are among the trusted leaders of Ireland, are Protestants.
We are prepared to risk our lives by their side in defence of liberty.
What more would Protestantism have, unless it desire a tyrannical ascend-
ency over Catholics, which the Protestant ministers of the queen of
England have said never can exist again.

The unreflecting and the prejudiced Englishman may deem this History
partial, because much that he considered his own in art and valor has
been restored to Ireland, and because the necessities of history compel
the exposure of a long course of English misrule in Ireland and else-
where. But the enlightened and the honest Englishman will perceive
that the aristocracy and its agents are separated, all through, from the great
bulk of the English people, who suffer almost as much from their depre-
dations as Ireland or India ; and a special acknowledgment is made to the
English democracy for the several manifestations of sympathy which they
have volunteered in behalf of the freedom of their brethren in Ireland.
Indeed, the wish is frequently wafted forth for a hearty cooperation of the
oppressed English and Irish people for the achievement of their common
liberties.

I have not occupied my pages, as others have done theirs, with detailed
descriptions of those lands that were confiscated during the several wars
between England and Ireland, nor published profitless lists of the "right
owners," the descendants of most of whom are scattered over the world,
and are become the servants of the servants of men. Such publications
enable the cunning agents of England to spread alarm among the Protes-
tant possessors of those estates, by pointing to the care with which the
Irish historians record the boundaries and the names of former owners, — to
insinuate that the object of the present agitation for the reestablishment of
the Irish parliament is to seize on those estates, and restore them to the
descendants of the original owners. Public opinion is completely set
against any disturbance of the possessors of property in Ireland, upon any
pretence oi former illegal seizure. No ! The Irish, when in possession of
power, will never overhaul the titles of those who reside in Ireland; but

VI PREFACE.

they will not spate the permanent absentees ; tJiey are a doomed race. And
if Ireland be driven to the field to achieve her liberty, the fee simple of ab-
sentee property, worth, at twenty years' purchase, one hundred and twenty
millions sterling, {six hundred millions of dollars,) will be found most
appropriate, and amply sufficient to pay those auxiliaries who may volun-
teer in her behalf, and w-ho would be happy with freedom, competence,
and a permanent residence in Ireland, as their reward. In such an event,
the man who would not be for Ireland would be against her ; and the
penalty of his hostility ought to be, at least, the loss of his property.

There will be found occasional repetitions of the same facts in the
work. I have learned from O'Connell, from Cobbett, and from the Lon-
don Times, that it is necessary, for the purposes of truth, to repeat peculiar
facts. In defence of this practice, I will let the Times speak for me.

"Now, there is an immense power in facts. The long contemplation,
and for a time the barren contemplation, of one simple fact, has often led
to the sublimest discoveries. The fall of an apple elicited the theory of
gravitation, the ascent of a soap-bubble the laws of color and light. It is
so in the history of nations ; the bare sight of the blood-stained dagger, or
of its bleeding victim, has overthrown dynasties. Such is the powder of a
picture, or of a ballad. It is a fact boldly exhibited, and appealing to the
hearts of men. Wherever there is public opinion, wherever there are com-
mon sense and common feeling, a fact is sure to have its weight. It is a
battering-ram, which, though it be only one instrument, yet, by many
successive blows, will break through the thickest and hardest prejudice or
stupidity. It is the continual drop which wears the stone. So we say,
if there be a great and distressing body of facts, with some great mystery
of iniquity, or error, or misfortune, connected with it, tell it, and tell it, and
tell it again. Tell it in a thousand forms. Tell it with perpetual variety
of circumstance and novelty of view. Tell it of this locality, and tell it
of that. Tell it of twenty years back, and tell it of now. Tell it of the
mass, and tell it of individuals. Give sums total, and particular instances.
Give names and places. Make the fact familiar, and yet vast ; detailed,
and yet marvellous. Do all this with a laborious and painful accuracy
which cannot be gainsaid. Be a very slave to the truth. Before a gen-
eration is past, the fact will speak for itself, and find a cure. You will
have endued a mere fact with life and energy. An undeniable statement,
which admits of being comprehended in ten words, and which was once
the ineffectual subject of whole libraries, will at last have more power than
ten million men."/'

This volume embraces the great outlines of the history of Ireland from
the first settlement of the island to the 30th of May, 1845. Although it is

* Leading article from the Times, on the Reports from Ireland of its " Commis-
sioner," September, 1845.

PREFACE. Vll

a bulky book, it is yet but an abridgment. It might have been still further
abridged, if I had not feared Jo defeat the great object in view by a dan-
gerous brevity. Although brevity is the soul of icit., it may be the destruc-
tion of history. The history of Ireland might, for that matter, be given
in two or three pages : Thus, —

Ireland was first peopled, about fifteen hundred years before the Christian era, by an
intelligent race called Phoenicians, who came from the shores of the Mediterranean
Sea, and who brought with them a knowledge of the arts, sciences, and literature,
then extant among the enlightened inhabitants of Egypt and Etruria. The island
was called Scotia, was divided into principalities, and was governed by independent
kings for the first six hundred years, who warred with each other for supremacy.
About nine hundred years before the Christian era, a Fcis, or parliament, was called by
one of the most learned and moderate of those kings, named Ollamh Fodhla, which
was held at Tara, the seat of his court, where all the chief men of the country, to the
number of one thousand, assembled. This great man delivered to that assembly a
history of the nation, which included the laws and maxims of their forefathers ;
whereupon a written constitution was framed, and appended thereto, called the Psalter
of Tara, which was received for more than two Uiousaud years as a guide by the
subsequent kings and jurists of Ireland. The laws made by those ancient legislators
were very wise and very humane. They provided for the national hospitality, for the
diffusion of knowledge and wealth, and the subdivision of land, and for the punish-
ment of crime. The trial of disputes by twelve men, and the law o^ gavel, were prom
inent among them. Their language, which was very ancient, and identified with
the earliest developments of human science, is spoken by the people to tiiis day.
Chivalry, honor, music, poetry, and martial courage, were promoted by their social
customs. Their religion, to the fourth century, was pagan : they sacrificed to the
sun, like most tjf the pagan nations of antiquity.

Though the nations which surrounded them were many times conquered and
reconquered, and oven sold as slaves, by Roman, Saxon, Dane, and Norman,
Ireland maintained an unconquerable integrity all through. During the western
wars of the Romans, the Irish opposed their legions in Britain, and finally drove them
back, after a contest which lasted four hundred years.

They were the only nation that received Christianity without sheddino- blood, which
they did in the year four hundred and thirty-two, from the lips of St. Patrick, who
was a Gaulish captive, brought into Ireland, with many others, as trophies of war, by
their conquering legions. After their conversion to Christianity, they turned their
whole strength to the cultivation of letters and morals. They were an enlightened
nation, and the doctrines of Christianity stimulated them to become missionaries and
teachers of the west of Europe in morals, languages, literature, astronomy, architecture,
poetry, and music. They opened extensive colleges at home, to which the youth of
Gaul, Britain, and Scotland, repaired to be educated ; and they sent forth swarms of
missionaries over Europe, who undertook to instruct and refine the barbarous hordes
which overran that continent on the breaking up of the Roman empire. There is
hardly any celebrated part of Europe where evidences may not be found at this day of
their piety, industry, or knowledge. During the long night of rufiianism and ignorance,
which hung over Europe from the fourth to the sixth century, when the Gotha
were seated on the thrones of the Caesars, the enlightened sons of Ireland were the
only cultivators of letters, preservers of ancient documents, and dispensers of knowl-
edge, that remained in Europe. They preserved the ancient Latin and Phoenician
languages, which they speak in the purest style at the present hour. It was

VIU PREFACE.

from them that the Anglo-Saxons received tlieir knowledge of letters and their ideas
of legislative government ; and though there are some writers of the present genera-
tion who denominate the ancic^nt parliaments ofTara"rude baronial assemblies,"
it must be remarked that nothing has come from Saxon, Dane, or Norman, to supply
their places; that the entire legislation of England, from the Norman conquest to
the days of Castlereagh, is fraudulent, bloody, and oppressive ; that the laws which
emanated from the ancient Irish legislative assemblies were calculated to diffuse
wenlth and knowledge, to dispense justice, to punish crime, and to superinduce
morality — results diametrically opposed to those which flowed from the legislation
and laws of England. Ireland, for several centuries, presented these attributes, and
won from the admiring nations which she taught the distinctive title Insulam Sancto-
rum et Doctorum, (Island of Saints and Doctors.)

In the ninth century, her people were harassed by a war witli the Danes, whicii
continued two hundred years; and though that powerful race gave a new line of kings
to England, and founded a new kingdom in the heart of Gaul, they were subdued by
the persevering bravery of the Irish, who defeated them, and extinguished their power
in Ireland, in the beginning of the eleventh century. From the first settlement of the
country to this, (a period of twenty-four hundred years,) the Irish maintained their
independence.

In the twelfth century, through the quarrels of their native prmces, they were
invaded by new enemies in the Anglo-Normans, which proved disastrous to their
independence. These invaders were crafty and treacherous, arrayed prince against
prince, — assisting one side or the otlier, according to circumstances, — until the
power of all was considerably diminished. For the first four iuindred years
of this invasion, the Anglo-Norman power contented itself within a small semicircle
on the eastern const of Ireland, known as the '• English Pah?," which covered about
one eighth of the island, wiiore the English laws, language, and dress prevailed, and
where a little parliament and governtnent were established under English auspices;
but the descendants of the first settlers became, in course of time, thorough partici-
pators in Irish feeling, customs, and language, imbued with feelings racy of the soil,
and were occasionally " more Irish than the Irisli themselves." The new adventurers
from England were looked upon by those of a previous age with jealousy ; but both
parties generally conspired to oppress and pillage the native inhabitants.

Towards the fifteenth century, the native Irish princes had won back by the sword
a very considerable portion of the territories at first seized by the invaders, but,
instead of joining together to expel them, as their forefathers had expelled the Danes,
were content to receive from them annual trii)utes, which were called " black mail,"
and which were paid to them by thi- English settli^rs for a century and a Iialf. During
all this time, the native princes carried on their petty wars with one another just
as if no foreign foe was on their soil, and wasted that strength in senseless assaults
upon each other, which was more than twice sufficient, if combined, to expel the com
mon enemy.

On the introduction of the' changes in the creed of England, in the sixteentli and
seventeentli centuries, a series of religious wars and sacrilegious confiscations ensued,
from which the people of Ireland suffered terribly. A mania for pillage and robbery
was generated in the minds of the English people by tiie wicked examples of llonry
VIII. and his daugliters, together with those monarchs of England who (with one ex-
ception, that of James II.) for three centuries succeeded him. This mania was con-
verted into thundering armies, and at one period it seemed as if half the population
of England and Scotland had landed in unfortunate Ireland, with the resolve of
exterminating the ancient inhabitants. A vast number of the native Irish were
destroyed by the sword and famine in the course of a series of wars, which began iu

PREFACE. IX

the mididle of the sixteenth, and terminated by treaty at the close of the seventeenth
century.

In the course of these wars, the Irish maintained their right to civil and religious
liberty against a greatly superior and a far more crafty force. They were aided in
their heroic defence by Spain and France, and were signally victorious in many battles ;
but bribery and treachery did more to despoil them of their inheritance than the arms
of their enemies. Having lost three fourths of their territory and half of their popu-
lation, being reduced by famine and the sword to about one million of inhabitants,
(who still supplied a resisting army of twenty thousand men,) and having been badly
commanded by King James JI. and his French generals, they came to the resolution
of capitulating with the invaders, which they did by solemn treaty, at the siege of
Limerick, in 1691, in presence of the English and Irish armies. In that treaty of
peace, it was agreed, for the first time, that the Irish should acknowledge the king of
England as king of Ireland, but that they were in other respects to be deemed a sepa-
rate nation, to enjoy the rights of worshipping God according to their consciences, the
inheritance of their estates by those who survived the war, and liberty of trade, navi-
gation, and manufacture. There was no question raised about a local parliament,
because Ireland was then, and ever had been, in possession of some kind of a legisla-
ture. The king and queen of England, William and Mary, most anxious for peace'
solemnly ratified this treaty ; after which the flower of the Irisli army passed over and
entered into the service of the king of France. Trade and manufactures, for which
Ireland was ever celebrated, began again to flourish ; and several English manufac-
turers went over and settled there, to take advantage of the greater facilities for
manufacture which the country offers in water-power, labor, provisions, and climate.
From this a jealousy arose in England, which caused the king to break all those
treaties with the Irish which he had so recently agreed upon. First he put down their
manufactures, and next proscribed the Catholics, who formed, as at present, the great
majority of the people. Succeeding monarchs followed up these bad acts by others
still worse, denying liberty to educate, or acquire property, until the nation wa^
reduced to the most degrading ignorance and poverty by a dreadful and certain
process.

The Irish, destitute of an army, and but just recovering from the horrors of warfare,
were unable to resist the course of injustice and oppression which they were now
doomed to experience. At length, upon the breaking outof the war of independence in
the American colonies, a gleam of hope opened, which was realized in the establishment
of the political independence of Ireland in 17S2, after which the Irish nation started
onward in a brilliant career of prosperity. Tiiis was accomplished by the virtuous
resolution of the Irish volunteers, a civil and military association numbering about
eighty thousand men, who proclaimed civil and religious liberty, and the independ-
ence of Ireland, as their mottoes and objects, and at whose demand the king and
parliament of England solemnly declared, by act of parliament, that the Irish nation
was integral, and independent of the English parliament; that no authority had power
to legislate for Ireland but the king, lords, and commons, of Ireland ; and that this com-
pact was to last/orcrcr. During this bright era, Ireland gave to literature, eloquence,
and the arts, many of the most exalted geniuses, whose contributions England has
endeavored to appropriate to her own glory, without acknowledgment.

The prosperity thus engendered in Ireland by peace and freedom superinduced,
in England, the revival of the old national jealousy, which exhibited itself repeat-
edly during the administration of Mr. Pitt, but which broke into an overwhelm-
ing massacre in the year 1793 ; immediately after which, and while an English army
of one hundred and seventy thousand men were in the country, a proposition was
brought forward in the Irish parliament by the British minister, to hand over the rights

* PREFACE.

of the Irish parliament to that of Britain, and reduce the three hnrrdred Irish repre-
sentatives to one hundred, who were to be transferred to the English parliament
where, however, they were to be met by an English majority of five hundred. A
proposition so destructive of the national rights and prosperity was met by the most
determined hostility of the Irish people.

They had just passed through a civil war, and suffered a general massacre and loss
of leaders, and were unable to resist the blow by war ; besides which, a majority of the
Irish members were bribed to vote away the independence of their country. Under
these circumstances, and in defiance of the two solemn compacts of 1691 and 1782,
the union with England was consummated. The gentry began to leave the
country, and carry off the produce of the soil, and the ruin of Ireland commenced.
In about three years after this, Robert Emmet tried, by a well-contrived but an
unfortunate effort, to overthrow the British power in Ireland. He failed, and was
executed ; and then the British ministry suspended the constitution for several years.

At length Daniel O'Connell, a distinguished Catholic lawyer, commenced a system
of agitation for Catholic emancipation, which, after several years' perseverance, pre-
vailed at last. The British ministry acknowledged that they were compelled to grant
freedom to the Catholics and Dissenters, in obedience to their combined confederation.
O'Connell then led the way in the reform of the British parliament, and the British and
Irish corporations, by the success of which he obtained a great deal of political power
for the Irish people, who were greatly enlightened by his eloquent instruction, and
now numbered some seven millions, six sevenths of whom were Catholics. He then
raised the demand for the restoration of the Irish parliament; and though, in the
prosecution of this demand, both himself and his friends have often been criminally
indicted, and even imprisoned, yet tiie cause is so just, and the people are so con-
vinced that without it they must be forever miserable, that there is no doubt but, like
emancipation, reform, and other great, questions of justice, it will at length be success-
ful. To enforce this demand, Ireland possesses a population of eight millions and
a half, of whom a million and a half are organized valiant men, governed by a num-
ber of distinguished leaders, unparalleled in her history for their talent, courage, and
caution. The Protestant part of tlie population are gradually becoming reconciled
to their Catholic countrymen. The British minister has declared, in parliament,
that Ireland presents a confederation now which it is not in the power of England to
put down ; and thus, after another cycle of suffering, Ireland stands forth in her
integral power, a nation in every thing but the name — an attribute, of which, under
Heaven, she shall not long be destitute.

Many there are who will not give more than a few minutes to the study
of Irish history. For the information of these, the preceding paragraphs
are designed. Even through that glimpse, they may see how deserving
Ireland is of her freedom, and how well calculated she is to achieve it;
and this must win her friends and consideration. But the Irish exile
will not be content with a hasty look into this subject. He will search
the long record of the glorious deeds of his forefathers ; and though he
may be far removed from the scenes of his youth, yet the dreams of home
and relatives will bring his troubled memory back to his native hills
and valleys, where the dearest images first impressed their forms on his
heart.

The expatriated Irishman, wheresoever he may be driven by the fiat of
a severe destiny, carries with him into exile an undying sympathy for his

PREFACE. XI

native land. The scenes of his boyhood, — the river, brook, or mountain,
around which he gamboled in days of light-hearted youth, — the dear
brother, sister, or parent, lying in the churchyard, and those loved
relatives who still live, but are separated from Him, perhaps forever, by a
boundless ocean and continent, — all these come before him in his dreams,
or in the mirror of his memory. Wheresoever he may be, — whether on
sea or on land, amid the convivial circle or wrapped in sleep, — by day or
by night, at labor or at rest, in London or Paris, Canada or India, in
New York or New Orleans, the memories of his father-land haunt
his imagination. No enjoyment, no excess of fortune or of misfortune,
can efface them. Ireland, with all her griefs and woes, with all her joys
and sorrows, fills his mind, breaks in upon his reveries, and springs his
sympathies. Her cares are his cares ; her triumphs are his triumphs ;
her reverses trouble him ; the career of her patriots fills him with anxiety;
their glory and their gloom are equally his ; they pursue and hang round
him in public and in private ; and the farther he is removed from his
native land, the more intensely does he feel for all that concerns her.
Although his attachment to the land of his adoption be sincere and
strong, his reverence for the land of his fathers is profound and lasting.
Such is the Irishman in exile. He is the same in the four divisions of
the earth, and he may be found in them all.

The political partisan may condemn him for this attachment to father-
land and to all its holy associations; but the philosopher knows it
to be an instinct planted in his heart by his Creator, and that he can no
more divest himself of its influence than he can of his senses.

Amid all the privations to which the wandering Irishman is subject,
there are few that so sensibly affect him as an exclusion from a knowl-
edge of what is passing " at home." In proportion as his mind is cul-
tivated is this pain intense. Every scrap of paper upon which the name
of Ireland is impressed becomes dear to him ; an Irish newspaper is a
welcome gift, and a book of Irish history or poetry is a prize. The music
of his boyhood days, when struck up in his hearing, makes him a boy
again. For a moment the heavy burdens of the world are removed, and
the care-worn exile becomes for a time softened and spiritualized into a
happy being. This may be pronounced a weakness, a childish weakness ;
still it delights the wanderer, and is frequently his greatest consolation.

For the Irishman in exile, this book is specially compiled. It is not a
critical history. It is a familiar narrative, in which all that is dear to
him is embraced. The history, biography, architecture, and music of
his country are treated of, and the monuments of his forefathers' genius
and valor are pointed out. With this book in his possession, he will
never be alone. It brings him into communion with the great spirits of
the past and the present ; he is again in their society ; he feels the enno-
c

Xll PRF1!-ACE

bling influences of their example ; and his mind expands with virtuous
and valiant sentiment. As, in well-bred society, we are coerced into
corresponding demeanor, so, when we commune frequently with the
exalted, whether dead or living, we imbibe their spirit, insensibly become
like them, rise in the moral scale, are obliged to be virtuous, and ashamed
to be base.

With this object, among others, I have gathered records of the bril-
liant deeds of the most distinguished of our countrymen. These will
show the world what Ireland deserves to be, and it will show Irishmen
themselves what they should individually aspire to be. It will awaken
their pride, and nourish their principle. With this book for his com-
panion, the Irishman who leaves his native home will be able to discover
the numerous interesting evidences of the virtue, talent, and valor of his
countrymen, which are to be met with in all parts of Europe and in many
parts of America. Should he travel into Scotland, he will find in the
Isle of Hy (lona) a memorial of the piety and philanthropy of St.
Columba Kille, who from that spot illumined Caledonia and the north of
England in the sixth century, and who left behind him an institution from
which the lights of science and religion exclusively beamed for four cen-
turies on the north of Britain. Should he from thence cross the borders
into England, he will pass over the remains of that testimony to Irish valor,
the great wall built by the Romans to keep out the Irish legions — the only
legions in the world that remained unconquered by them. Let him from
this memorable spot proceed to visit the old Abbey of Malmesbury, where
Maildelphus, the Irish monk, taught the Angles and Saxons Christianity,
letters, Latin, and architecture ; and when he comes to Oxford, let him
survey St. Peter's Chapel, which he will find modeled after Cormac's
Chapel, on the rock of Cashel. He will remember, too, that Alfred, who
founded, in the ninth century, this college and the constitution of Eng-
land, received his education and ideas of law and government in Ireland,
and appointed Irish professors to instruct his countrymen. Nor ought
he to omit to look at their library, where he will see that the most
ancient manuscripts in it are in the hand-writing of Irishmen.

If he go to London, let him enter Westminster Abbey, and survey with
feelings of reverence the everlasting roof of Irish oak which was brought
from Ireland in the twelfth century, and which hangs in solemn grandeur
over the forgotten dead. He will not leave this place without calling
at Grattan's grave, and kissing the sacred stone under which he sleeps.
Let him, if he have feeling and ambition, visit the British Museum, for it
was founded by his countryman. Sir Hans Sloane ; and the Royal
Academy of Arts also, for that was founded by his countrymen, Barrett
and Barry, whose magnificent historical paintings adorn its walls — paint-
ings which Thomas Campbell declared were equal to Michael Angelo's.

PREFACE. XIU

Passing from this, he will admire the parliament-house of England, which
was built by his countryman Barry, and adorned in fresco by his coun-
tryman M'Clise. The viewing and remembering these things will rouse
his ambition and animate his heart.

Should he pass over into France, there also will he meet, scattered on
every side, memorials of his forefathers. At Ligny, within three leagues of
Paris, are the ruins of three churches built by his countryman Fridolius, in
the sixth century, where the lights of Christianity and learning were
opened upon France. In the Irish College of Paris, he will find the
original manuscripts of St. Sedulius and others, written in the seventh
century, and at Versailles he will find four grand paintings of the battle of
Fontenoy, won over the lion of England by his countrymen. He will
kneel in the grand hall before the statue of Sarsfield, and vow to struggle
for the freedom of the land which gave him birth.

Should he wander through Italy, this book will prove an index to much
that will interest an Irishman. The ancient language of that classic soil
is still the popular language of Ireland. The most ancient manuscripts in
the Vatican are in the hand-writing of Irishmen. He will find that his coun-
trymen Columbanus and Dungal instructed Italy, in the sixth and seventh
centuries, in letters and music. He will find the library of the latter
missionary preserved in the Ambrosian library at Milan. But ere he quits
Rome, let him visit the tomb of the great Hugh O'Neill, in the monas-
tery of St. Isidore, and pluck caution and courage from his grave ; for by
these attributes he once humbled the power of England.

This book will guide him to many an honored or sacred spot in Austria,
Switzerland, and other parts of Europe, where his countrymen have left
memorials of their virtue, genius, or valor, the recollection of which must
inspire him with consanguine attributes. And should his destiny drive
him to the new world, he will find even here many noble monuments of a
like character. On entering New York, almost the first object that
strikes him is the tomb of Thomas A. Emmet ; before which the patriot
exile will feel an involuntary impulse to kneel and pray. He will think
of his brother's blood not yet avenged, and his grave yet undistinguished
by a tomb or an epitaph. With these thoughts upon him, he will sigh
for his hapless country, and meditate upon the best means to give her
freedom. When he passes into the interior, he will visit the farm of
Wolfe Tone, in New Jersey, or. mayhap the relict of that great man at
Georgetown, in the District of Columbia. From thence let him visit
Mount Vernon, the tomb of Washington, and honor the memory of
him who did justice to that Irish brigade which fought faithfully by his
side to the last. Let him then cross the Alleghanies, and observe the
traces of Irish genius in the stupendous works which annihilate moun-
tains, invented by Dougherty, and from thence to New Orleans, to

XIV PREFACE.

admire the most beautiful architectural pile upon the face of the new
world, erected by Gallagher. At this point he will be near the Mara-
thon of modern times, the plain of New Orleans, where the descendants
of his countrymen contributed to overthrow the picked and chosen legions
of England.

If, after seeing some of these monuments, and reading about the others,
he should remain slavishly indifferent to his country's fame and freedom,
and to his own pride and character, then, he may rely on it, his nature
is bastardized, and he belongs not to Erin.

This book will call up memories of the past and of the absent. It
will bring struggling Ireland into the minds of a new and a great race.
The more her history is studied, the more her claim upon the sympathies
of man will be established and admitted. It was for her dead more than
for her living that the nations sympathized with modern Greece, and
armed for her emancipation. This effort, the first to combine in one
work the history, science, and biography, of Ireland, if properly seconded
by her own sons, will do much to engage the minds of the thoughtful
and the valiant in her behalf Every true Irishman will assist in circu-
lating this book, — push its facts and arguments through the press, and
have passages from it read aloud in lyceums and reading-rooms. It was
not written to aid a party, but to dispel falsehood and establish truth.
Every man, who neglects to spread its contents among his neighbors,
favors the dominion of calumny and tyranny.

The Irish name has been blackened in America by the pens of
calumniators. This book will help to remove the stain. The Irishman
in Ireland is prevented, by the libel and sedition laws, from learning the
history or the doctrines of freedom. This book will help to enlighten
him. Every Irishman in the United States should send one of these
books to some friend in Ireland. It wdl be a welcome gift, and its
introduction among the Irish farmers will rouse their ambition and fortify
their valor. Every Irishman in the United States, who can afford it
should have one of these books to lend to his American neighbors. He
should be industrious in circulating it from man to man, until all his
American neighbors have read it over. If this be vigorously performed
at all points of the Union, one or two years will not pass over ere a new
and a powerful sentiment will grow up, in favor of Irishmen and Ireland,
which will make the path of the exile pleasant in his adopted country, and
contribute to exalt his race and his father-land in the scale of nations.

T. M.

GUIDE THROUGH THE WORK.

LECTURE I.
Introduction — Ancient Nations — Egyptians — Phoenicians, &c 1

LECTURE IL
Phoenician Mythology — Etruscans — Their Discovery of Ireland — First

Settlers of Ireland, Slc 34

LECTURE m.

Government — Legislative Assemblies — Laws — Literature — Religion and

Customs of the Ancient Irish from 1260 to 860 B. C 51

LECTURE IV.
The Irish Language — Historians of Ireland — Ancient Architecture -

Round Towers, &c 77

LECTURE V.
The Irish Bards — Their Poetry, &,c 151

LECTURE VI.
The Music of Ireland 180

LECTURE VIL
The Historic Narrative resumed — 860 B. C. to the first Year of the
Christian Era — Names and Deeds of twenty Kings — Military Code —
Laws of Chivalry — Division of Ireland into Provinces and Counties.. .248

LECTURE VIII.
From the Birth of Christ to A. D. 141.
Names and Deeds of forty-three Kings — Moran — Roman Invasions —
Roman Customs contrasted with those of the Irish 271

LECTURE IX.

From A. D. 141 to 279.

Laws — Caledonian Colony — Leinster Militia — Reign of Cormac 298

LECTURE X.
From A. D. 279 to 500.
The Constitution of tlie Irish Militia — Origin of several Irish Families —
Defeat of the Romans in Caledonia — Literature, Religion, and Cus-

XVI GUIDE THROUGH TITE WORK.

toms of tho nnciont Irish contra-storl with those of Rome, &c. — The
Mission of St. Patrick 325

LIXTUllPJ XI.
From A. I). 500 to 800.
Origin of the Saxons — The English Ilopt^'irchy — Spirit of the Christian
Ages — The Monks — Numerous Irish Missionaries — Their Labors
in Europe 3(>4

LECTURE XII.
From A. D. 800 to I OK!.
Names of fifty-nine Kings of Ireland — State of Europe — Charlemngne —
Mahomet — The Venetians — The Danes — Inva-sions and Battles in
Ireland — Brien Boroimhe — Battle of Clontarf. 409

LECTURE XIII.

Religion, Liternturc, and Architecture of Ireland in the tenth and elev-
enth Centuries, with Engravings illustrative of the latter Subject 448

LKCTURE XIV.
FiiOM A. I). lOIG TO 1509.
Names of nineteen Irish Kings — Norman Conquest — First English Inva-
sion— Magna Charta — Bruce — The Laws and Battles of the Pale... 545

LECTURE XV.
From A. D. 1509 to 15fi0.
The Reign of Henry tlie Eighth — Queen Mary — The Reformation —

Seizure of Church I'roperly, &c fiOl

LECTURE XVI.
From A. D. l.WO to 1003.

Mary Queen of Scots — (i,iif-f!n Klizalxith — The Fifteen Years' War —

The Deeds of Ilugii O'Neill 6135

LECTURE XV 11.

From A. D. 1(50^ to UI!)!.

The Reign of .Tames the First — Charles the First — "Irish Rebellion" —

Cromwell's Invasion — Charles the Second — James the Second — Wil-

. liairi the Third — Trfmty of Liiriffrick — Irish Exiles — Sarsfield 714

LKC'JMJRE XVIII.
From A. I). Ifi9l to 178^.
Breach of the Treaty of iiirrnirick — Confiscations — Suppression of Trade
and M!inui(i.c,tures--l'':nal Laws — Reign of Queen Anne — George
tlie First, Second, and Third — Irish Volunteers — Independence 804

GUIDE THROUGH THE WORK. XVU

LECTURE XIX.
From A. D. 1782 to 1798.
The Dissolution of the Irish Volunteers — The Rise and Progress of the
United Irishmen — Wolfe Tone's Exertions — Battles of '98 — Trials
and Executions of tliat Period — Fall of Ireland 858

LECTURE XX.

From A. D. 1798 to 1800.

The United Leaders — The "Union" and the Mode of carrying it 1^*90

LECTURE XXI.
Life of Rohert Einmot — Russell — Letters of T. A. Emmet and Macnevin

— Insurrection — R. Emmet's last Speech and Deatli^Miss Curran. .10G8

LECTURE XXII.

Biographical Sketches of the eminent I\lcn of Ireland, that flourished from
the Beginning of tlie Eighteenth to the Beginning of tlie Nine-
teenth Century. 1097

LECTURE XXIII.

O'CONNELL AND HIS TiMES. — FrOM A. D. 1800 TO 1820.

His Ancestry — Youth — Professional Career — Duels and Agitation 1199

LECTURE XXIV.

O'CONNEI,!, AND HIS TiMES. — FrOM A. D. 1820 TO 1830.

The Rise, Progress, and Triumph of tlie Catholic Association — Biograph-
ical Sketches of the Catholic Loaders 1295

LECTURE XXV.

O'CONNELL AND HIS TiMES. — FrOM A. D. 1830 TO 1845.

The Reform Agitation — Tiie Repeal Agitation — The " Experiment " —
Resources and Manufactures of Ireland — Revival of the Repeal
Agitation — Monster Meetings — State Trials — Imprisonment and
Triumph 1343

LECTURE XXVL

O'Connell and his Family — Father Matliew — The Archbishop of
Tuam — Bishop Higgins — William Smith O'Brien, with tiie load-
ing Repealers, and distinguished Men of Intellect 1554

NOTES, supplemental, on the Round Towers, tlie Volunteers, and the

Laws and Law-Makers of England 1633

GENERAL INDEX 1041

MUSICAL INDEX 1652

APPROBATION.

Meeting of the Fi-iends of Ireland in New York.

A meeting of the Friends of Ireland and of Universal Liberty was held at Wash-
ington Hall, Broadway, on the evening of the 1st of May, 1843, the Rev. Johit N.
Smith, pastor of St. James's, in the chair, James Bergen and George D. Dowling
secretaries.

The object of the meeting having been very eloquently stated by the reverend
chairman, which was called with a view to have the valuable and interesting course
of Lectures on Ireland, delivered in the course of the past winter, by Mr. Moonev,
published, —

The reverend gentleman stated that he had heard many of those Lectures delivered,
and he considered that if the whole were published in the cheapest possible form, the
book would form an excellent auxiliary to our stock of literature ; that it would make
an excellent school book, which we much wanted, for it was a lamentable fact, that
the youth of this country never saw a History of Ireland, simply because there is really
no such work, complete, in existence. Even the children of Irish parents forget the
blessed and revered land of their forefathers, or learn of it only through the vicious
medium of English calumniators. A new era had arrived, public inquiry respecting
Ireland had taken wing, and it will not rest now until it flies over the entire history
of that interesting but oppressed land. (Cheers.) Mr. Moonky had given the
whole of her splendid history, in a pleasing, graphic, and familiar style, suitable to
ever}-^ taste. He was the first man that did the thing so much required, and he felt
it his duty to Ireland and to truth to give the work his heartiest support. (Cheers.)

The Rev. Mr. M'Carran supported the views of the reverend chairman. Letters
were received from Messrs. Charles O'Conor, William Denman, Dr. M'Gloin, and
other gentlemen, highly approving the object of the meeting.

Mr. Wallace, of Kentucky, also addressed the meeting in laudatory terms of the
object it had in view, and moved the following resolutions: —

Resolved, That we have witnessed with pleasure the great advantage derived by this
community from the Lectures on Irish History, delivered by Thomas Mooney, Esq.,
during the past winter, arid, feeling it due to Ireland and the United States, that
the most extensive circulation should be given to the valuable and interesting matter
contained in these important Lectures as a national work, we deem it a duty to request
Mr. MooNEY to publish an edition of the same.

Resolved, That we, as a committee, not only cheerfully recommend such a publica-
tion to every friend of Ireland, and of universal liberty, throughout the United States,
but will assist, by all honorable means, in disposing of the work when published.

Resolved, That the secretaries of this meeting be empowered to call upon the lead-
ing men of this city, and throughout the United States, for such general cooperation
as they may be disposed to render.

The following named gentlemen then and subsequently subscribed their names
for the work : —

John Power, vicar-gene-
ral, pastor of St. Peter's,
(five copies,)

John N. Smith,pastorof St.
James's, (five copies,)

Michael M'Carron, St.
James,

Wm. Nightengale, pastor
of Fiftieth Street Church,
(two copies,)

Alexander Mappeti, Trans-
figuration Church,

Rev. Mr. Murphy, St. Ma-
ry's,

Felix Varela, vicar-gene-
ral, pastor of Transfigu-
ration Church,

John M'Closkey, pastor of
St. Joseph's,*

Andrew Byrne, pastor of
the Church of the Na-
tivity,

Rev. Wm. Quarter, pastor
of St. Mary's,

Rev. Mr. Curran, of St.
Paul's, Harlem,

' Coadjutor bishop of New Vork.
The following correspondence took place : —

John M'Keon, M. C,

Robert Emmet,

Charles 0"Conor,

W. J. Macneven,

Samuel R. Macneven,

John Caldwell, treasurer
N. York Repeal Associ-
ation,

Patrick S. Casserly,

Gregory Dillon,

Wm. Denman,

Robert Hogan, president
Emigrant Society, New
York,

Dr. Sweeny,

Dr. M'Gloin,

Roche Brothers & Co.,

James Shea,

Joim M'Sweeny,

John Augustus Shea,

P. H. Bushe,

John Colgan,

Denis Carolin,

William Wallace, of Ken-
tucky,

Timothy Fahy,

JAMES BERGEN

Henry H. Byrne,

Henry C. Bowden,

Daniel Major,

Robert Wilson,

C. M. King,

Wm. Francis Clarke,

Allanson Nash, 109 Nassau
Street,

Moses Y. Beach, proprietor
of the Sun,

Horace Greely, proprietor
of the Tribune,

Bernard Donnelly,

Charles J. Leahy,

Thomas Scanlan,

Robert O' Donovan,

Alex. Wells,

John Brady,

Bartholomew O'Conor, sec-
retary Repeal Associa-
tion,

James Trute,

Patrick M'Kenna, Pitts-
burg,

James Hurley.

GEO. D. DOWLING,}"^''^^''^"■^■

^o the Very Rev. JOHN POWER, Vicar-General of New York.

Washington Hall, May 4, 1843.

Very Rev. Sir :

As secretaries of a meeting of friends of Ireland, held in this hotel on the first
of May, we beg leave, in compliance with the resolutions of that meeting, to enclose
your reverence a copy of the same, and to request most respectfully your attention
thereto.

The students in the schools of America, and the great public generally, have hitherto
been deprived of a correct History of Ireland — one which would acquaint them with
the true character of the Irish people, their ancient importance amid the nations, their
unequalled efforts for many centuries in propagating Christianity and literature, and
the unparalleled succession ot ages during which they sustained their national integ-
rity, together with the treachery and butchery by which they were deprived of their
freedom.

The American youth, learning the little that is printed of Ireland through the
prejudiced histories written by her oppressors, cannot but have conceived a very
unfavorable impression of her gallant, industrious, and warm-hearted people. Such,
indeed, is the result of those unfair and prejudiced reports, that many amongst the
American public have treated individuals from Ireland with unaccountable ill-feeling,
which, in very many instances, has tended to impede the progress of enterprising
industry, in many of the most important walks of life.

A new era, however, has arrived. Discussions on the claims of Ireland to national
independence have brought the character of that nation more directly before the
public eye, the result of which is the growth of a more favorable opinion, throughout
America, towards Ireland and her people. From these discussions have grown a
series of Lectures on Ireland, which have been delivered in the course of the last
winter before the New York public, by Mr. Thomas Mooney, a gentleman recently
arrived from Ireland, whose unceasmg exertions for the liberation of his country
entitle him to the thanks of every friend of freedom. These Lectures have covered
the whole history of Ireland, from the earliest period to the present time, and will,
when published, supply that desideratum in American literature so much required.

It is our pleasing duty. Very Rev. Sir, to solicit the honor of your name to the
national list of patrons and subscribers of this work ; and we are, with respect, your
very obedient servants,

JAMES BERGEN, J Secretaries.
GEO. D. DOWLING, 5

ANSWER

To James Bergen and George D. Bowling, Esqrs.

New York, May 12, 1843.
Gentlemen :

I have received your letter of the 4th instant, with the resolutions passed at a
meeting held in Washington Hall, on the 1st instant, recommending the publica-
tion of Mr. Mooney's Lectures on Ireland, as delivered in this city during the past
winter.

Of Mr. Mooney's knowledge of Ireland and of Irish affairs I am fully convinced.
Of his great services and labors in her cause since his arrival in this country you
yourselves are witness. By his speeches and Lectures we all have been instructed.
I therefore, gentlemen, do fully concur in the resolutions, and as a proof of my hearty
concurrence, I beg you will set my name down for five copies of the work.
With great esteem, I have the honor to be, gentlemen,

Your very faithtui servant,

J. POWER, V. G. ofK. Y.

ADDRESS

To the exiled Irishmen resident in the United States, the British
Provinces, and in other parts of the world, and to those Irishmen
still in bondage in their native country.

MY COUNTRYMEN : I have performed the laborious task of gathering into one
book a tolerably complete history of our country, our greatest men, our immortal
music, our ancient language, and our sublime architecture.

This work has cost me several years of study, research, and labor. It is now done.
My book is in the hands of the world.

It commences the history of Ireland at a period thirteen hundred years before the
Christian era, and continues it to the thirtieth of May, 1845. It embraces an account
of all transactions in Irish history most interesting to Irishmen, which have taken
place during the long succession of ages comprehended in three thousand two hun-
dred years.

Independent of the historic narrative, which begins at tlie beginning, and concludes
in the present year, glancing at the parallel history of England and Scotland as it
proceeds, the book contains the following special features, never before presented in
any Irish History.

THE IRISH LANGUAGE.

First. — A special essay on the antiquity, nature, history, and present condition of
the Irish language, with fac-simile specimens of th"e ancient Plia;nician or Coptic
character, in that stage when it succeeded symbolic writing ; also, fac-simile speci-
mens of tlie Irish alphabet, and oghams, (secret writing,) and a brief account of the
patriotic efforts now being made to revive the language in Ireland.

IRISH MUSIC.

Second. — A special history of Irish music — its remote practice in Ireland — the
mode of its original construction — the origin and ancient form of the harp — its cul-
tivation and improvement by the Irish bards — the ancient rules or canons of music
which they formed — a fac-simile drawing of ancient musical notes — the time when,
and the persons who, introduced the harp music and its laws among the nations of
Europe — the general nature of Irish music, and its condition at the present time.

Third. — As connected with, and illustrative of, the foregoing, I have introduced

ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY IRISH MELODIES, (POETRY AND MUSIC

COMBINED.)
These melodies are arranged for the piano-forte, violin, flute, or clarionet, and
presented as specimens of our ancient and modern composition, embracing every
measure, whether of love, sorrow, joy, merriment, war, or patriotism, well calculated
to soothe the heart in exile, or to animate it in bondage.

IRISH POETRY.
Fourth..— A special essay (historical) on the nature of Irish poetry. Various
specimens of versification in the Irish language, with translations, are introduced. It
is shown that the Irish bards first invented harmonic versification, and formed the
science of dividing time and matter in music, poetry, and prose.

ARCHITECTURE.
Fifth. — A special history of Irish architecture, from the early erections of crom-
leaghs and round towers to the building of the Parliament-House in Dublin.

It is proved in this essay, that the sublime style of architecture miscalled
Gothic is in fact Irish ; and the names of the pious architects who introduced that
style throughout Europe, with the names of the churches which they erected, are given.

RELIGION AND LITERATURE.

Sixth. — tThe history of the ancient worship of Ireland, and of the introduction of
Christianity into that kingdom, with some reflections on its nature — the extensive
universities in Ireland — the state of literature at various periods — the establishment
of universities by Irish scholars, in the si.xth and seventh centuries — the revival, by
those pious missionaries, of the learned languages, writing, literature, religion, arts,
science, and music, through Europe, after the barbarous violence of Goth, Vandal, and
Saxon had subsided.

THE HISTORIANS.

Seventh. — A series of biographical sketches of the ancient and modern historians
of Ireland, with accounts S? the records which they compiled and the places where
these are now deposited, and the best compilations that now exist.

THE GREAT MEN.
Eighth. — A series of abridged biographies of our most distinguished men, from
Ollamh Fodhla to O'Connell, comprising two hundred separate "Lives," which in-
clude the kings, warriors, writers, saints, bards, and artists who flourished during
the ages prior to the English invasion, and those heroic soldiers, patriots, martyrs,
poets, musicians, orators, authors, and artists of our country, who shone at intervals,
in the gloom of seven centuries of Anglo-Saxon oppression, including those who now
live, and surround O'Connell in the heroic struggle for national independence.

HISTORICAL VIEWS OF OTHER NATIONS.

Tenth. — It afibrds, through the whole work, continued parallel glimpses of the
histories of England, Scotland, and Europe generally, by which the reader may
become well informed, as he proceeds, of the revolutions of neighboring nations,
from the flood to the present year.

ALPHABETICAL INDEX.

Eleventh. — A comprehensive Alphabetical Index is appended to the work, which
will enable the reader easily to refer to the most prominent subjects treated of in its
pages.

I have put the whole of this matter into one book. It makes over sixteen hundred
and fifty pages.

I believe it will be admitted that this is the most comprehensive History of Ireland
that ever was published. I might have spun out ten volumes from the material im-
bodied in this one ; but my object is to place in the hands of every Irishman, in the
cheapest form, and in one book, an account of all things connected with our country
which we value most, by which the splendid history of our race, now for the first time
put together since our fall, shall, like the Jewish chronicle, be preserved forever
unbroken.

My long residence in Dublin, my long connection with the political agitation ot
Ireland, and my personal cognizance of matters and men, enable me to narrate, with
tolerable accuracy, the transactions of the last twenty important years in Irish history
— a period yet uncovered by any other writer.

I have asked no patronage or subscription from any man towards this work. It
comes out equally independent of the rich or the poor. In this respect it is more for-
tunate than many of its predecessors. It speaks truth of the living and the dead —
is published in a land of freedom, and speaks in the freeman's tone. I ask you, my
countrymen, to assist in its circulation, not as a favor to me, but to us all, — the sons
of a persecuted and calumniated land, — for this book will be your vindicator and
cheering companion in exile or in bondage.

As to pecuniary profits, I shall have little. Every man acquainted with publishing
will tell you this is the cheapest book ever published. The music alone imbodied in
it cannot be purchased for six times its price. Several thousand copies must be sold
before the first outlay shall be repaid.

1 therefore confidently call on you to assist in the circulation of this book. I sug-
gest the formation of little clubs of subscribers of fives, tens, or twenties, by which
the expense of carrying it to a distance will be lessened ; and, as a means of dispel-
ling mucii of that prejudice that exists in this country towards Irishmen, I would
suggest tliat it be loaned to Americans by those who purchase.
I am, my countrymen.

Your faithful and obedient servant,

THOMAS MOONEY.

Boston, Jfovember 1, 1845

APPROBATION.

[From the Boston Pilot of November 15, 1845. J

THE HISTORY AND MUSIC OF IRELAND.

We record to-day the most extraordinary meeting, connected with Ireland, that evoT
took place in Boston, which was held on Monday evening at the Odeon, Franklin
Street, a building capable of holding several thousand persons, to receive Mr. Mooney's
new work on the History and Music of Ireland. The building is a vast theatre, con-
Eisting of pit, boxes, and three galleries, every part of which was crowded to its
uttermost capacity, by the flower of the Irisli citizens of this place, including all the
clergy of the district, and very many distinguished American citizens.

Amongst those whom we noticed at the meeting were the Right Rev. Bishop Fitz-
patrick, the Rev. Dr. Manihan, the Rev. Mr. O'Reilly, Rev. Mr. O'Brien, Rev. Mr.
Goodwin, Rev. Mr. Fitzeimmons, Rev. Mr. M'Mahon, Rev. Mr. Wilson, Rev. Mr.
Gibson, Rev. Mr. Hardy, Rev. Mr. O'Beirne, Rev. Mr. Brady, Rev. Mr. M'Grath, Rev.
Mr. Dougherty, J. W. James, Esq., W. J. Walsh, Esq., O. A. Brownson, Esq., &c.

Although the doors were opened at six o'clock, yet, for an hour previously, Federal
Street was crowded with people waiting for admission, and several thousands went
away unable to enter.

A concert of the music in Mr. Mooney's book was then produced, which far surpassed,
in melody and execution, any musical entertainment we ever witnessed. The music,
selected by Mr. Mooney from the minstrels of Ireland, is undoubtedly the very finest we
ever heard, and its execution, by Mr. Michael Mooney, Mrs. Franklin, Mr. Horncastle,
Mr. Garcia, Mr. Shaw, Mr. M'Gaughey, Miss Walsh, and Master O'Keefe, was truly
delightful, and won from the audience the most rapturous applause. The house was
brilliantly lighted ; the rich and deep intonation of the organ, when pealing forth the me-
lodious airs of old Ireland, filled our hearts with joy ; and the sight and sounds of the
harp, the Harp of Erin, surrounded as it was that night by men who are prepared to
peril all to emancipate her, called up the memories of Tara and Clontarf, and caused
many a noble heart in that building to pant for the freedom of that unhappy land.

When the vast and brilliant auditory were perfectly satiated with melody, Mr.
Mooney came upon the platform to call the meeting to order. He was heartily ap-
plauded, and, after a few responsive remarks, moved — John Warren James, Esq.
to the chair, and Stephen J. Rogers, Esq., secretary.

Mr. Mooney then said he had called that meeting together to present to his country-
men a. History of Ireland. The work had been gathered from at least one hundred
different authors, whose writings were inaccessible to the great mass of the public. It
was a faithful and a fearless history of the Milesian race, down to the memorable
30th of May, 1645, and would, he hoped, be interesting to every Irishman in exist-
ence, whether in exile or bondage, for it was the first time that their history was com-
pletely presented by one hand. [Applause.] Many men have died in the attempt to com-
plete this work. He was more fortunate than several others of far greater abilities
He called on them to circulate their history, to lend it to their American neighbors
it will purify the mephitic atmosphere, and will cheer the exile in his path ! [Cheers.]

He would now present the book to them through one to whom Irishmen were grate-
fill, one to whom he was deeply obliged. [Applause.]

26 CHARACTER OF THE ETRURIANS.

the people who succeeded them in their beautiful country, absolutely
nothing intelligible has come down to us. If their sepulchres exhibit
so much greatness, refinement, and dignity, what splendor might be
expected in their temples, theatres, public buildings, palaces, and the
habitations in which they lived, moved, and acted ! These were above
ground. Their successors, the Romans, ruthless, ignorant, and barba-
rous, have obliterated nearly every trace of them, if we except their
stupendous architecture, some magnificent specimens of which have,
by their magnitude, defied the ruthless efforts of the barbarians, and
resisted their puny efforts, while they attributed their erection to super-
natural agency. Such has ever been the fate of civilized nations, when
conquered by barbarians. The fall of the Roman empire, in turn,
produced the "dark ages;" the Anglo-Saxons destroyed all traces of
Roman literature in Britain. The hostile disposition exhibited by all
barbarous people against civilization and literature, has been very
remarkable. Omar, who destroyed the Alexandrian library, was a
correct specimen of the ferocious and ignorant barbarian of all ages."

Sir William then quotes from the Quarterly Review, 1833, a passage
on this nation. " Etruria is one of the great, mid, as yet, unsolved
problems of ancient history. It is clear that, before the Romans, there
existed in Italy a great nation, in a state of advanced civilization, with
public buildings of vast magnitude, and works constructed on scientific
principles, and of immense solidity, in order to bring the marshy plains
of central and northern Italy into regular cultivation. They were a
naval and commercial people, to whom tradition assigned the navigation,
at one period, of the Mediterranean. Their government seems to have
been nearly allied to the Oriental theocracies : religion was the domi-
nant principle, and the ruling aristocracy a sacerdotal order."

He then enters into an elaborate history of this extinct nation, which
he justly builds upon the inscriptions on their coins, on their tombs, on
their vases, on their bronze mirrors or sjjecula, on their tables of bronze,
that have been, within the last few years, dug up from beneath the
classic earth of Italy, over which the Roman conquerors trod, uncon-
scious, in their efforts to obliterate the memory of this people, of the
existence of subterranean evidences which would, in other ages, meet
the eye of posterity, and deprive Rome of the honors of originating arts,
science, and mythology, which she so zealously and so unjustly strove
to assume at the expense of her teachers, the Etrusco-Phoenicians.

This great nation, with its history, was involved in the deepest
mystery, until a critical knowledge of the ancient Irish language,

LANGUAGE OF THE ETRURIANS PROVED TO BE IRISH. 27

acquired late in life, by Sir William Betham, enabled that profound
scholar and antiquarian to perceive, that all their inscriptions, memorials,
and devices, were written in the ancient Irish character ; and
that through the Irish, and the Irish tongue alone, could he unlock the
hidden history of that polished, illustrious people, who once filled Italy,
Gaul, Spain, and Ireland, with memorials of their arts and labor, which
still remain, outliving the coundess generations of man, that have washed
over them as the ocean beats over the lasting rocks of Erin's old prom-
ontories.

Sir William gives upwards of fifty plates of accurate drawings of
many of their ancient coins, curiosities, weapons, bronze mirrors, together
with the literal inscriptions found on the seven tables of bronze — inscrip-
tions called by the learned the " Eugubian Tables." There are several
mythological engravings on ancient pieces of metal, which are given, and
translated first from the old Etrusco-Phoenician language into modern
Irish, and then from the Irish into modern English. In presenting a
drawing of a magnificent statue in alabaster, found in one of the ancient
vaults of Etruria, Sir William thus writes : —

"Although the number of plates has already exceeded what was
contemplated, I cannot resist the temptation of placing in this work one
of a recumbent figure of a man, which formed the covering of a sar-
cophagus, now in the museum at Volterra. It is doubtless a portrait of
the deceased, who was, according to the expression of Catullus, a corpu-
lent Etruscan — ' obesus EtruscusJ

" It is not easy to imagine a finer formed head, or a countenance
more expressive of a brilliant intellect, a cultivated, well-stored mind, and
a benevolent heart, than the one here presented. The ring on his left
hand, and the gold chain, or torque, round his neck, declare him a
man of high rank. He was a writer, as appears from the volume in his
hand. His head is encircled with a wreath of oak leaves ; the counte-
nance fills us with bitter regret that the productions of the mind of such
a man should be lost forever. How many ages of progressive civiliza-
tion must have passed away to have produced such a head, and a
pencil, or chisel, capable of making it live to our days ! Where is the
Greek or Roman statue which throws this into the shade, and exhibits
a higher style of excellence in art, or one of which any age might be
prouder ? His very obesity is a proof of civiirzation. He was a benefac-
tor to his country by his writings : probably his nation, anxious to do him
honor, erected this monument to his memory. Anonymous as he is to
us, his merits will not be altogether unappreciated ; for they caused the

The Rev. Mr. M'M^hon next addressed the meetmg in terms highly compUmen
tary to the work, and was followed by W. J. Walsh, Esq., in a most eloquent speed
to the same purport ; after which the subscription list was commenced.

Mr. O'Brien, the president of the Father Mathew Total Abstinence Society, rose
on behalf of that body, to take the first copy, which the society have resolved to for
ward to Father Mathew. [Loud cheers.]

A stream of subscribers were then supplied, who paid down their money and took
away their books. We never saw any thing like the enthusiasm displayed on this oc-
casion. Several hundred copies were cleared away. The immense assemblage then
began to separate

[From the Boston Pilot, November 22.1

MR. MOONEY'S CONCERTS AND HISTORY.

CHARLESTOWN.

The Town Hall of Charlestown was filled to the doorway with an enthusiastic audi-
tory on Monday evening, to hear Mr. Mooney's concert. We noticed in the room
very many of the American citizens of the place, including the Rev. Mr. Goodwin,
Professor Ryder, of Holy Cross College, Rev. Mr. O'Brien, Rev. Mr. Hardy, Rev. Mr.
M'Grath, &c.

At the conclusion, the Rev. Mr. O'Brien came on the stand, to address the people
on the nature and contents of Mr. Mooney's work on the History, Music, Biography,
Architecture, and Resources of Ireland. " I love," he said, "music and history. I
came here to hear genuine melody, and to recommend to my fellow-citizens a genu-
ine History of the land of my forefathers. [Cheers.] I wish them to take this work,
and peruse its facts and statements. If they have prejudice against Ireland, the study
of this book will dispel it. Faithful history is, after religion, the most interesting
study for the human mind. This History is faithful and true. It is carefully and sim-
ply written. It has been perused with deep interest by one who watches over the
Catholics of New England with a father's fondness, and I am glad to say that it has
his entire approbation. [Cheers.] And I have only to add my own testimony of its
value, and my thanks to the author for producing a work that at once reflects credit
upon him and upon his country." [Cheers.]

The Rev. Mr. Goodwin then came upon the stand, and delivered a feeling and elo-
quent address to the immense auditory, most of whom were his parishioners. We re-
gret we have not full notes of the eloquent addresses of both gentlemen. The follow-
ing few sentences from Mr. Goodwin will give an idea of his sentiments: —

" My fellow-citizens, I attend here this evening to give expression to my gratitude
towards Mr. Mooney, the author of this very important and very faithful work on the
history of Ireland. I have not had it in my possession more than a couple of days,
but even in that short time I have seen enough to convince me that it is an admirable
■work, most ably constructed to effect the establishment of truth and liberty. [Applause.]
It appears at the first glance to be a bulky volume, but it is in truth a most concise
production. There are no waste words nor tedious details, and it really surprises me
how the author contrived to compress so much knowledge into one book. It is a his-
tory of European civilization for three thousand years, and presents to us Ireland, in
every phase, during that long succession of ages, down to the present hour. We have
biography, we have architecture, fully and ably traced and developed ; and, besides

this, we have upwards of a hundred pieces of the best Irish music, which cannot be pur
chased in the music stores for less than twice the price of this book. 1 trust no Irish
family will be without this admirable work. I could wish that every American citizen
would possess himself of it. It would remove much of that senseless prejudice which
exists around us towards our Irish fellow-citizens. 1 was born within a stone's throw
of where I now stand, and was once as full of unjust prejudice towards the Irish people
as any around me ; but when I came to knovv^ them, to study tlieir history and char-
acter, my prejudices vanished, and my heart swelled with friendship for so moral, gen-
erous, and high-minded a people. [Cheers.] There may be some grounds afforded, by
the ill conduct of individuals, for this prejudice; but this ill conduct must not be suf-
fered to tarnish a great nation, that has, in all ages, given saints and missionaries to re-
ligion, scholars to literature, genius and talent to the arts, and valiant champions to
liberty. [Loud and enthusiastic cheers.] Let this invaluable book, which bears incon-
trovertible testimony to the fame of Ireland, be widely distributed, and you and your
children's children, to the latest generation, will partake of the benefit of the great
truths which it proclaims." [Great applause.]

Mr. Mooney then opened the subscription list, when several copies of his work
were taken ; soon after which the meeting broke up.

ROXBURY.

On Tuesday evening, a similar concert and meeting took place in Roxbury. The
Town Hall was crowded to excess by the most numerous and respectable auditory that
ever gathered within its capacious walls. The concert was presented in tlie finest
style by the performers.

At the conclusion, the Hon. Isaac H. Wkight came upon the platform, and was
very heartily applauded by the assembly. He said his friend, Mr. Mooney, remarked
that there was music in his voice, but he thought the music they had just heard before
was far better. He was really delighted with this night's entertainment, for it ush-
ered into existence a faithful History of Ireland. This was a work that had long been
much wanted. He was proud, as an American citizen, that this great work had been
written and published in America. Here was it brought forth, where the press was
free, and where the truth can be told ; and Mr. Mooney has told the whole truth re-
specting his native land. No son of that land can do more for its exaltation than he
who pens of it an honest and careful history. That work has been performed, by Mr.
Mooney, in a manner that reflects the highest credit on his talents, and the highest
honor upon his country. It is a monument to his country's fame more lasting than
stone or brass, and will survive as long as the language in which it is written. [Ap-
plause.] Mr. Mooney has wisely gathered into his work the scattered but beautiful
melodies of his native land. This will ever preserve it in the hearts of the people, for
the melody of Ireland is found to reach the human heart, and touch its finest sensibil-
ities. It now remains for the people to come forward and sustain this great effort to
elevate them. Let it not be said that Mr. Mooney shall, by the very greatness of his
labors to exalt his country, fall, and become, like many other men of ability, a beggar
for his pains. [Cheers.]

The honorable gentleman then gave his name for the work, and was followed by
very many in the meeting, when scores of the History of Ireland were taken.

Mr. Sharkey said, he was desired by several American citizens to request Mr. Moo-
ney to repeat the concert.

LETTERS FROM THE BISHOPS OF BOSTON AND

NEW yOE-K.

Boston, J\'ov. 24, 1845.
Dear Sir:

I have devoted eis much time to the perusal of your excellent History of
Ireland as 1 could well afford from rny other occupations, since the receipt of the
copy you had the kindness to lay before me. 1 have, in fact, read enough of it to be
able to form a pretty fair estimate of its value ; and I unhesitatingly say, that it has
given me more- information of poor, oppressed Ireland than any book I had ever read
before — to say nothing of the exquisite pleasure and delight I derived from its well-
written pages. It is truly a great work, and one I shall rejoice to see in the hands of
every Irishman, and of every native-born citizen of America. You have indeed
labored well and hard for Old Ireland. May all your hopes in her regard be realized,
and may you yet live to see her what she ought to be —

" Great, glorious, and free,
First flower of the earth, and first gem of the sea."

Your obedient servant,

t BENEDICT, Bishop of Boston.

Thomas Moosey, Esq.

New Yokk, Kov. 26, 1845.

Dear Sir :

I received with much satisfaction your voluminous and interesting work on
Ireland, which you had the kindness to send to me. I have had time only to glance
through it ; but I am convinced that it is at once a useful and highly-deserving pro-
duction.

It is honorable to Ireland that, in a foreign land, there should be found both zeal and
talent sufficient to accomplish it, and also, as I hope, patronage enough to warrant the
undertaking, and to remunerate the labor and research necessary for its accomplishment.

1 return you rny thanks for the copy you were good enough to send rne ; and

I remain, with great respect,

Your obedient servant in Christ,

{ JOHN, Bishop of New York.
Thomas Mooitet, Esq., Boston.

LETTER FROM ROBERT EMMET, ESQ., OF NEW YORK.

New York, Dec. 8, 1845.

Thomas Mooney, Esq.

Dear Sir :

1 owe you an apology for having so long deferred ac-
knowledging the receipt of the copy of your work on Ireland, which you so kindly
sent me, and your letter accompanying it. I can only say that, since 1 received it, I
have, with few intervals, been laid up witli attacks of rheumatism, which have pre-
vented me from attending to business or using my pen in any way. I am happy to
say, however, that I am almost restored ; and one of tlie first uses I make of my
returning strength is to express to you the grateful sense which I feel at your kind-
ness and attention.

During my confinement to my room, I have derived great pleasure and much in-
struction from your book ; and / do not hesitate to say that the useful information it
contains, its correct and patriotic views, and the mode rjou hare adopted for the arrange-
ment of its contents, viake it one of the most interesting historical compilations I crer
Tnct wit/i.

As an Irisliman, I feel grateful to you for so successful an effort to place the his-
tory and character of our country in their true liglit; and I sincerely hope, as I fully
believe, that your exertions will not go unrewarded. Every man who has Irish blood
in liis veins should be the possessor of your book ; and I wish you no smaller meas-
ure of reward tlian that, and a continuance of health to enjoy it.

Believe me, sincerely,

Your friend,

ROBERT EMMET.

SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES

BOSTON LIST.

Right- Rev. BENEDICT, Bishop of Boston.
Right Rev. JOHN, Coadjutor Bishop.

Rev. Dr. O'Flaherty, Rev. Mr. O'Brien,

Rev. Mr. O'Reilly, 5, Rev. Mr. Flood,

Rev. Mr. Fitzsimmons, Rev. Mr. Crudden,

Rev. Mr. Hardy, Rev. Mr. Dougherty,

Rev. Mr. M'Mahon, Rev. Mr. O'Beirne,

Rev. Mr. Goodwin, Rev. Mr. Haskins,

Rev. Mr. M'Grath, Rev. Mr. M'Dermott,

Very Rev. Dr. Ryder, Rev. P. O'Beirne.
Rev. Mr. Devlin, V. A.,

Isaac Wright,
Walter J. Walsh,
J. C. Tucker,
St. Mary's R. Room, 3,
Michael Riley,
James Riley,
Michael Kenny,
Terence M'Hugh, 4,
M. J. Mooney,
Patrick Mooney,
Peter Higgins, 2,
P. Comerford, .
Hugh Duffy,
Cooper Moriarty,
P. Conarty,
John Collins,
John Stuart,
Edward M'Cafferty,
C. Masterson,
Owen Murphy,
James Sullivan, 2,
Thos. Osborne,
Patrick Greehy,
Edward Haley,
George Derett,
James Ryan,
J. Ford,

Stephen Cusack,
Jas. O'Connor,
Daniel O'Regan,
M'Donald,

Thos. Hughes,
Florence M'Carty,
Francis M'Girr,
Edward Byrne,
Jas. Byrne,
Wm. Murray,
Thos. Connors,
Robert Giles,
Andrew Gaffney,
W. S. Baxter,
Wm. Timmons,
J. P. Crean,
Patrick Phillips,
James Cummings,
Nugent Keenan,
Thos. O'Hara,
Mr. M'Gaughy,
Philip Guinan,
Daniel M'Farland,
J. Daly,

Jeffrey Donahoe,
John Dee,
Patrick Connors,
Bernard M'Laughlin,
Patrick Furlong,
H. W. M'llroy,
Michael Dinan,
J. T. Cunningham,
Edward Gillen,
Michael Canny,
Peter Peduzzi,

Patrick Durr,
Edward Young,
Henry Dooley,
John C. Kells,
Wm. A. Wilson,
Henry J. Duff,
Michael Drury,
Owen Sullivan,
Jeremiah Minahan,
Timothy Linehan,
Edward Coughlan,
James M'Conologue,
Michael Walsh,
Michael O'Rourke,
Thos Sweeney,
Wm. Dwyre,
John Hector,
Wm. Feely,
Patrick Loan,
Thos. Hennessy,
Cornelius M'llroy,
Charles Doherty,
Wm. Byrne,
Jeremiah Sheehan,
Thomas Kenny,
M. Stuart,
John Devlin,
Mark Conway,
Joseph Nash,
Thomas Hill,
Philip Reilly,

Wm. Franklin,

Major Heiss,

Maurice Vaughan, 7,

D. M. Hallinan,

Wm. Simpson,

Wm. Daly, 3,

Saxton &, Kelt, 2,

Redding & Co., 8,

J. Burke, 25,

John Warren James,

O. A. Brownson,

P. Donahoe,

Squire Aimes, 2,

Michael Gallagher, 5,

J. R. Fitzgerald,

Dennis O'Brien,

Father Matthew Society,

Mr . Roberts,

J. D. Mahoney, 2,

Thomas Mooney,

Miss M. Walch,

Richard Walch,

Arthur M'Evoy,

Stephen J. Rogera,

Michael Keyes,

Dr. Germaine,

Hugh Gray,

Edward Donnelly,

P. Winters,

Robert Mahood,

John Manning,

Hugh Ward,

Thos. Dunnigan,

Edward Russell,

John Kelly,

Michael Hall,

Edward Dolan,

Thos. F. O'Keefe,

Master Walter Byrne,

Wm. Dudley,
Patrick Flynn,
Peter M'Goorty,
Daniel Crowley,
John Cashman,
James T. Baxter,
David Hunksley,
Hugh M'Dirild,
Bartholomew Whitton,
Thos. Wallace,
Terence O'Neill,
Edward Murphy,
Edward Farran,
John Nicholson,
Charles Kelley,
Michael Hyde,
John Grant,
Thos. Tracy,
Thomas O'Hara,
Roger Doherty,
Thos. Kenny,
Bernard Fitzpatrick,
Cornelius Gray,
Francis S. M'Girr,
Jeffrey Pendergrast,
John Bray,
Hugh Cummiskey,
Edward Lawlor,
James Carney,
Catherine Gallagher,
Edmund Wall,
Michael Foley,
Wm. Murphy,
John Flanagan,
George Wilson,
Timothy Lynch, 12,
Wm. Phayer, 6,
Francis M'Ginley,
Patrick Lyons,

John White,

Michael Ryan,

Wm. Riding,

M. M'Burney,

Daniel M'Carty,

Hugh Doherty,

Michael Kane,

Edward Powers,

Patrick Barry,

Dougal Anderson,

Martin Collier,

Hugh Murphy,

Wm. Nagle,

John Murray,

Wm. Hyland,

P. H. Pierce,

John Power,

James Ahem,

Patrick Sharkey,

B. F. Cooke,

Owen Cusack,

John Berran,

Marcus Byrne,

Michael M'Donnell,

Patrick O'KeefFe,

John Kenny,

Wm. Doyle,

J. Hector, Jr.,

P. Salmon,

J. M'Cabe,

Michael King,

Thomas Hand,

James Ward,

John Whitty,

T. Reynolds,

John Troy,

W. B. M'Connellogue, 5,

Wm. Cunningham, 10,

LECTURE I.

SECTION I.

Reasons for delivering these Lectures. — Ignorance respecting Ireland prevailing
in America. — Reasons. — Policy of Britain to defame Ireland, and suppress
her History. — American Literature derived from England. — Opinions of Warner
and Sir James Mackintosh on the Antiquity of Irish Literature and Laws.

My first duty is to acquaint you with the reasons which induce me
to deliver before the American public a course of Lectures on the
History of Ireland. I have travelled over a large surface of this great
country within the last three years ; I have attended many public
meetings of American citizens, who assembled, during that time, to
sympathize with Ireland, in her struggle for a nation's rights. I have
had the honor and pleasure, at those meetings, to explain the true
relations that existed between Ireland and England ; and to explain the
nature of that momentous measure, termed " repeal," which the Irish
people are now seeking to achieve.

In the" course of these addresses, I brought before the attention of
innumerable meetings of American citizens, views of Irish history —
facts important to her cause, that all should know ; and it surprised
me not a little to find that much of what I stated appeared new to
the great public, even to the reading and reflecting classes of this Union.

Meditating on this deplorable ignorance of Ireland's history, which
I found very generally existing, I endeavored to account for it to myself.
I found, in the public schools and libraries of America, the histories
of Greece, Rome, France, Spain, England, and Scotland; but I
found no history of Ireland. The Americans, speaking the English
language, derive their literature from English books ; and all that they
have known of Irish history, they derived from the prejudiced, prostitute
pens of British writers.

The policy of Britain, since her first invasion of Ireland, in 1169, has
1

2 POLICY OF BRITAIN TO DEFAME IRELAND.

ever been to disparage the fair character of her sister isle ; to darken it
before the nations of the earth ; to hold the country up to each new
generation as disentitled to national rights, national honor, national fame ;
to pay dishonest writers for discrediting its glorious history of civiliza-
tion, independence, and government, which commenced a thousand
yeafs before England herself had emerged from a stale of barbarism,
or slavish subjection to pagan Rome.

Those English writers of Irish history, beginning with Giraldus
Cambrensis, who, first of his class, commenced to defame Ireland, at
the instigation of the British king, Henry the Second, immediately
after the invasion of Ireland by that monarch, have continued their
calumnies, age after age, with the regularity of a well-organized sys-
tem, to the last living libellers of the London press, (the Times and
the Standard,^ who pile up calumny upon calumny on dieir victim,
with surprising effrontery, even in this enlightened age.

These calumnies, uttered with the same unblushing confidence in the
past ages as in the present, have always been quoted by writer after
writer, on the English side, the falsehoods of one generation serving for
texts to the generation succeeding. Every reign, every English minis-
try, has brought forth its swarm of revilers, who have stood, as it were,
on the banks of Time, casting their filth and their poison into the stream
of its history ; who have generated in the minds of the youth of their
own country terrible prejudices against their Irish brethren, teaching and
training them to oppress that inoffensive nation — a nation that, for
many ages, had been their faithful, their unconquerable, their victo-
rious ally against the overwhelming power of pagan Rome.

In addition to this perfected system of calumny, which seems as if it
never were to end, the English invaders, in every age, have made it
their special object to destroy every valuable record, which they could
lay their hands upon, of Ireland's ages of independence, of govern-
ment, of laws, of literature, poetry, and music.

I shall show, as I proceed, when, and where, and by whom, were
those libraries of Ireland's glory destroyed — libraries that took ages to
accumulate, in which were carefully registered the deeds of the kings,
and princes, and lawgivers, of " Temora " (Tara) for upwards of two
THOUSAND YEARS ; who, unconquercd by invaders, and undisturbed in
succession, preserved the national independence of the great Irish race
for a duration longer than any nation, ancient or modern, can boast of.

But these Vandals from Britain did not destroy only the records of
Irish arts, sciences, fame, and glory, but destroyed, in the promiscuous

ANCIENT DOCUMENTS. BENEDICTINE MONKS. 6

outrage, innumerable records, and most valuable historical fragments
(which were deposited, in the course of time, in the Irish colleges)
of Egypt, of Phoenicia, of the Scythians and Celts, from which nations
the early settlers in Ireland were descended.

Many fragments of Grecian and Roman literature, which constitute
the code of classics, were found amongst the few volumes of Ireland's
own history, which the devotees of knowledge tried to preserve and
secrete during the ages of persecution. The world is indebted to the
order of Benedictine monks for almost ^ll we have of ancient histoiy,
of Grecian or Roman literature. These good men gathered, in every
age, such fragments of the world's history as had escaped the unlettered,
but conquering hordes of the north of Europe — a race which looked on
knowledge, and on letters, as their greatest enemies.

When all Europe, in the fifth and sixth centuries, was convulsed
with struggles between the decaying power of Rome and her resisting
vassals, — when those nations, which she had enslaved by her arms,
and oppressed by her aristocracy, uprose against her sway, and demol-
ished, by a mighty convulsion,' her Western Empire, — the peaceful,
studious, contemplative inquirers after nature's mysteries were driven
from their academic abodes in western Europe, and very many of
them fled for refuge to Ireland.

For this there existed a very natural cause. Ireland had maintained
her independence against the arms of Rome during the whole of her six
or seven centuries of conquest. Though Britain, Gaul, Spain, Greece,
and all the nations of the East, submitted to that rule, Ireland alone,
amongst them all, remained independent ; presenting to the eyes of
posterity a splendid oasis of freedom amidst the universal desolation
of slavery. Her schools and colleges, sustained by national grants, and
cherished by national hospitality, offered sanctuaries to the learned of
Europe, who fled thither from the surrounding scenes of tumult and
slaughter, carrying with them such valuable fragments as they could,
secure of the intellectual industry of previous generations.

The innumerable monasteries which were instituted in Ireland
soon after the establishment of Christianity there, in the beginning
of the fifth century, attracted the " Brothers of St. Benedict," a society,
the first of the kind in the world, which originated in Italy, and
extended 'ts branches through the European continent, and to Ireland.
These Brothers, I say, seemed to be the only executors of ancient
literature. They gathered it ; they protected it ; and little indeed is the
world aware of the obligations it owes to those industrious ecclesias-

4 IRELAND THE CHIEF SEAT OF WESTERN LITERATURE,,

tics, or to that nation which ofFereii them and their priceless gatherings a
safe and welcome sanctuary, when they were driven from every other.

Ireland having been the chief seat, in the west, of literature and laws,
even in the Druid ages, the early accumulations, age after age, must have
swelled to immense dimensions, previous to the European convulsions in
the fifth and sixth centuries. But, when we estimate the quantity of
books, documents, and records, which the literary refugees carried with
them into Ireland, during that convulsion, and when we add them to
those already gathered there, we can then conceive some measure of
the criminality of those British invaders, one of whose objects, for
many centuries, seemed to be the destruction of every ivorlc of literature
found in that ill-fated country.

I shall show, when I come to the reigns of Elizabeth, James the First,
the Charleses, Cromwell, that cartloads of the most ancient and most
valued works were taken from the shelves of the religious libraries,
brought out, and burned at the doors of those tenements which St.
Patrick and his successors erected, within wliose venerable piles
Alfred and his Saxon countrymen, for many ages, received their
gratuitous education.

But, though ages of fanatical persecution destroyed much that we
should value, yet enough was saved to show what our nation was in her
lengthened career of independence. The literary and religious refugees
who fled from British violence, in the sixteenth and seventeentli centuries,
to the Continent, carried with them more than enough of material to
furnish the world with a more accurate history of Ireland than any

OTHER NATION CAN BOAST OF.

And what must gratify you and me very much, is the fact, that,
notwithstanding the corruption and tyranny practised by each succeeding
British ministry towards Ireland ; notwithstanding the promotion and
rewards which awaited every lying historian ; notwithstanding the
persecution which every literary man, who dared to print the truth, from
Molyneux to Plowden, experienced at the hands of guilty power, — yet
there have been found Englishmen and Scotchmen, who, ih the face of
all, in the teeth of national pride and ministerial power, have clung
to the proud, the lasting standard of eternal truth, have explored the
streams of History to their obscure source, have traced them honestly
for three thousand years of time, and have honestly admitted the ancient
power and glory of Ireland.

How great must our gratitude be towards men so just and so fearless !
Say, how much of the crimes of England towards Ireland is washed

AUTHORITIES RELIED ON IN THIS WORK. O

away by the virtues of the few honest writers on Irish history, who have,
in latter times, appeared amongst her sons. Amongst these I shall
quote from Betham, Colonel Vallancey, Dr. Warner, Plowden, Lin-
gard, and Cobbett ; and amongst the writers of Scottish birth, Sir
James Mackintosh, the ornament of English literature ; and the Abbe
M'Geoghegan amongst the French. Among the Irish writers, I will
draw on the rich stores put together by O'Conor, O'Halloran, O'Con-
nell, Keating, Mac Dermott, Pepper, Moore, Wyse, Barrington,
O'Callaghan, Battersby, Madden, &tc. From some of the surviving
patriots of '98 I have collected unpublished material. From two of
the above historians I present, at the outset, a couple of extracts,
merely to indicate the nature of the important history which I have
undertaken to develop.

Dr. Warner says, " Will any critic in this country [England] any
longer confidently assert that the Irish had not the use of letters till
after the arrival of St. Patrick, and the conversion of the island to
Christianity ? Ought we Englishmen not rather take shame to ourselves
that we have hitherto always treated that ancient gallant people with
such illiberal contempt, who had the start of the britons for

MANY AGES, IN ARTS AND SCIENCES, IN LEARNING AND LAWS?"

Sir James JVIaekintosh says, " The Chronicles of Ireland, written in
the Irish language, from the second century to the landing of Henry
Plantagenet, have been recently pubhshed, with the fullest evidences
of their genuineness and exactness. The Irish nation, though they
are robbed of many of their favorite legends by this authentic
publication, are yet enabled by it to boast that they possess genuine
history several centuries more ancient than any other nation possesses,
in its present spoken language. Indeed, no other nation possesses any
monument of its literature, which goes back within several centuries of
the beginning of those Chronicles. Some of Dr. O'Conor's hearers
may hesitate to admit the degree of culture and prosperity he claims
for his country ; but no one, I think, can deny, after perusing his proofs,
that 'the Irish were a lettered people while the Saxons

WERE still immersed IN DARKNESS AND IGNORANCE.' "

If Ireland, then, be, and have been, what these great men admit,
ought we not to feel humbled at finding her history so Httle known ? to
find her name not only blotted from the political map of the world, but
fraudulently excluded from the commonwealth of the world's literature ?
And, as we are vigorously struggling in the sublime effort to restore her
political position amid the nations, so ought we to struggle vigorously

6 POLICY OF BRITISH WKITERS TOWARDS IRELAND.

to reestablish her in her ancient relations with the literature and science
of enlightened man.

While I feel strongly that this ought to be done, I also feel that I
am incompetent to impart to the work I undertake those features of
style and diction which would increase its interest, and secure for the
nation to which I belong a reasonable share of honor. I feel this
thoroughly, and I express it unaffectedly; yet I also mourn the igno-
rance tliat prevails in this great country, in relation to Ireland ; and,
clumsy though my hand may be, and untutored my pen and tongue,
I will avail myself of the opportunity and the means that even / possess,,
to place before the American public a general digest of Ireland's history,
from the beginning of her ages of civilization and government to the
present time.

SECTION II

Policy of British Writers. — Dr. Johnson's Letter. — Discovery of a Key to the
Egyptian Inscriptions. — Rosetta Stone. — The Deluge. — Noah. — Settlement of
Egypt by the Children of Ham. — Origin of Writing. — Instinct in Insects and
Quadrupeds. — Symbolic Writing. — Irish Language constructed on the Sounds of
Nature. — Ancient Egyptian Government. — Egyptian Priesthood. — The Pharaohs-
or Kings of Egypt. — Pyramids.— Brick-making. — Mummies. — Manufactures of
Egypt. — Its Architecture. — Metre. — Calendar. — Art and Science. — Libraries.
— Histories. — Fathers of History.

The majority of British writers have left no effort untried to discredit
the early history of Ireland. The laborious records of the ancient Irish
historians they have treated as bardic rhapsodies, because their authors
claimed for their country a high degree of perfection in government,
arts, literature, manufactures, music, civilization, and social refinement.

When the knowledge of any art, or law, which moderns value, was
attributed to ancient Ireland, the British calumniators seized on the
proposition, and held it up to derision, as an absurdity. " Observe,'^
they would say, " the Irish claim the merit of knowing the principles
of masonry and building three thousand yeai^s ago; of working in
metals, of manufacturing textile fabrics, of understanding mathematics
and astronomy, — though we know those various branches of human
knowledge were the inventions of modern ages." Arguments of this
kind take well with admirers exclusively of modern art and civilization ;

DR. JOHNSON S LETTERS ON IRELAND. 7

for self-love is gratified, and self-importance swelled by their admission.
Those who would disturb theories so fashionable, have rather an uphill
work to perform.

The celebrated Dr. Johnson, the great standard authority on the
English language, deplored, frequently, the little that was known of
ancient Ireland by his countrymen. Some of his letters, of dates 1755,
1777, to Dr. O'Conor, of Bealenagar, the Irish historian, have been
recently published by Sir William Betham, Ulster king at arms in
Ireland, in his very able work on the ancient Celtae, &;c., now before
ine. The following extracts from one of those letters is seasonable : —

" What the Irish language is in itself, and to what language it has
affinity, are very interesting questions, which every man wishes to see
resolved, that has any philological or historical curiosity. Dr. Le-
land begins his History too late. [Leland, who was a renegade
Irishman of that age, commenced his History of Ireland from the
beginning of her connection with Britain.] The ages which deserve an
exact inquiry are those — for such there ivere — when Ireland was

THE SCHOOL OF THE WEST, THE QUIET HABITATION OF SANCTITY AND

LITERATURE. If you could givc a history, though imperfect, of the
Irish nation from its conversion to Christianity to the invasion from
England, you would amplify knowledge with new views and new
objects. Set about it, therefore, if you can. Do what you can easily
do without anxious exactness. Lay the foundation, and leave the
superstructure to posterity.

" I am, sir, your humble servant,

" Samuel Johnson.

^'May 19, 1777."

Considerations such as these, so eloquently expressed by the great
Dr. Johnson, ought to induce us to look into the ancient history of a
race which was, for many ages, the " teachers of the west," and should
excuse me for carrying you back to ages of the world far more remote
than the arrival of the Phoenicio-Milesian settlers in Ireland, to the
times, indeed, of Moses, of Abraham, and of Noah, for the purpose
of proving the reality of that remote civilization, which Ireland inherited
from a long line of illustrious ancestors, whose Irish descendants, in
every age, passionately cultivated the literature bequeathed to them.

The recent discoveries made in the hieroglyphic systems of the ancient
Egyptians, and in the tombs of ancient Etruria, place within our reach
iihat knowledge of the primeval ages which was denied to the Greeks

8 DISCOVEEY OF A KEY TO THE EGYPTIAN INSCRIPTIONS.

and Romans ; viz., a knowledge of ancient Egypt, Phoenicia, Etruria,
&c. ; of the invention and advancement of art amongst those singu-
larly great nations. In the days of Herodotus, Josephus, Pliny, and
other fathers of history, who wrote about two thousand years ago,
Egypt had, even then, been almost forgotten, and would have been
completely so, had it not been for her everlasting monuments of art.
All the decipherers of the symbolic memorials had long, long been
gathered to the catacombs of the embalmed dead, and httle remained
to attest their former grandeur and power, but their wonderful pyramids,
and their mysterious inscriptions, which no living man, for many ages,
could decipher.

To ancient Greece and Rome, Egypt and Phoenicia were lands to
be plundered, not exalted ; lands whose wisdom and glory dimmed
their own ; lands to be forgotten, not recorded. Both those nations,
in turn, plundered Egypt, Phoenicia, and Etruria. Both possessed
themselves of their arts, sciences, laws, and religious mysteries, and
boldly assumed them as their own. What England was, and is, to
Ireland, Greece and Rome were to Egypt and Phcenicia — plunderers
of their territory and science, and libellers of their name.

But Providence brought to light the means of opening the sealed
tablets of the Egyptians and the entombed treasures of the Phoenicians.
We shall first dwell on ancient Egypt.

In the year '1191, some engineers of the French army vv^ere exca-
vating, for the foundations of a fort, near the ancient Egyptian city
of Rosetta, in the district known as the Delta, through which the Nile
discharges its waters into the Mediterranean Sea. At several feet
below the surface, they discovered, in the sandy earth, an oblong slab
of black basalt stone, about three feet by two and a half, which was
covered with writing and symbolic characters. When the French
were captured by the British at Alexandria, this stone was given
up to their commander^ carried to London, and there attracted the
attention of the antiquaries of the world. It was found to consist of a
triplicate memorial of the coronation and proclamation of an Egyp-
tian king or Pharaoh, who flourished one hundred and ninety-six
years before the Christian era.

The first record of the event is in hieroglyphics or symbols, used
in the mysterious system of the Egyptian priesthood ; the second
memorial is in the Demotic, or Encorial, which was the language of
the common people of Egypt ; and the third memorial is in the Greek
language. The latter purports to be a translation of the two preceding

THE DELUGE. NOAH.

memonals, proving, for the first time, to the satisfaction of all men, that
the symbolic characters found on the old monuments of Egypt are, in
fact, written records. Great exertions were made by the learned of
Europe to find a key to decipher these interesting symbols, which had
remained sealed history to the most learned of mankind for better than
two thousand years.

At length the task was accomplished by the learned French antiquary,
M. CliampolUon le Jeune, who, in conjunction with Dr. Young and
some other learned and scitsntific inquirers, hit upon a complete key
for deciphering the monumental records of ancient Egypt ; the conse-
quence of which has been, that a series of reports have been read
before the French Institute, and published to the world, with diagrams,
explanations, maps, and illustrative drawings, which present to the eye
of the scholar a new and magnificent historical superstructure. Proud
may the Irishman feel at this singular result, for it confirms the truthful
historians of his own country, who lived and recorded her glorious
attributes two thousand years ago. From some of the voluminous
publications on ancient Egypt, recently made by the learned, I have
condensed into a brief narrative the progress of civilization, as conducted
by two of the chief communities of ancient times, who flourished for
unnumbered centuries after the deluge.

The original traditions of every nation acknowledge and attest that
the world was destroyed by a deluge ; one family, only, consisting of
eight persons, having been preserved. The time when this event
happened is variously dated by the traditions and histories of the
numerous primary tribes into which mankind was divided long
subsequent to that event. The na7ne of the head of the favored family,
thus preserved from all creation, is difi^erently pronounced by the
descendants of these primary nations. The Hebrew chronicles and
the Christian pronounce it Noah.

Noah remained on the earth, after the deluge, three hundred and
fifty years. He was lord of the whole earth. His three sons, Shem,
Ham, and Japheth, had bestowed on them, by their father, the most
fertile regions of the east. Ham, and his son, Mizraim, with their
families, proceeded from the banks of the Euphrates, in Asia, to the
valley of the Nile, during the lifetime of Noah. That region was
bestowed on them by the patriarch, as their inheritance. Egypt was
called by the Egyptians Khem, or Kah, the " Land of Ham." Such
is the translation of symbols on the old monuments.

Shem and Ham, two of the sons of Noah, were twins. "Shem"
2

10 EGYPT SETTLED BY THE CHILDREN OF HAM. ORIGIN OF WRITING.

means " fair twin ; " " Ham " means " swarthy twin." Though the
term Ham means swarthy, in no ancient language does it mean blacJc.
In Ps. xxviii. 51, Egypt is designated the " tabernacle of Ham.""

Canaan was the person cursed by Noah; he was the fouith son of
Ham ; he was a white man, yet his posterity did not become black :
they are a white race. The offspring of the fair twin " Shem " were
Israelites. They were called " shems," or " strangers/' in Egypt.
Mizraim, the son of Ham, was a Caucasian, in physical conformation ;
that is, well proportioned in the make of the head, with sharp features.
The Caucasian race, by their physical and mental superiority, extended,
in after ages, their dominion over the surrounding nations. The records
of the contemporary nations, which grew up from Noah's family, have
nearly all perished. Little is certainly known of the ancient history of
the Hindoos, Chinese, Assyrians, Persians, &;c. he.

Egypt stands, like her enduring pyramids, almost the sole standard
for the history of man, from the destruction of the earth by the deluge
to the present time. Amongst the first settlements on the banks of the
River Nile, we recognize Thebes as the earliest gathering of people
which comes up to our idea of a city. Thebes was the first city built
by Mizraim and his successors. It was, no doubt, like all other cities
in their commencement, a mere village. It was built on the banks of the
Nile, about one hundred and fifty to one hundred and sixty miles from its
discharging mouths into the Mediterranean Sea. The city of Thebes
was for many ages considered, by all the tribes and nations surrounding,
the centre of knowledge, religious mysteries, arts, science, and celestial
light. The Sanconiathon, the great Phoenician book, kept in Tyre,
as well as other ancient works, Hebrew and Phoenician, record that the
use of letters was either invented or restored by a descendant of Miz-
raim, named Thaat, or Thoth. By others this individual (Thoili) is
considered to be Phceneas, or one skilled in the science o( sounds. Mr.
Gliddon, the eminent Egyptian hierologist, thinks that writing, either by
symbols or letters, was known to the inhabitants of the earth before the
flood. There is no good reason to doubt the proposition. When we
know that animals and insects, of all sorts, are secretly directed in their
operations, by the unseen hand of the Creator, by tliat law which we
term intuition, or instinct, to perform for themselves those acts of
provision and protection which surprise us ; when we observe the
precise and correct geometrical skill displayed by the spider, who
weaves his nets, to catch his food, with much more exactitude than the
most expert and instructed fisherman or net manufacturer ; when we

INSTINCT IN INSECTS AND QUADRUPEDS, StC. 11

Study the labors of the bee, the wisdom, forethought, and science, dis-
played by that wonderful creation of God, — how humbled do we rise
from the contemplation ! Whether we remark on the wisdom which,
in the summer, provides food for winter ; the forethought to erect a
suitable habitation to protect itself and young against cold ; the math-
ematical science evidenced in the erection of those habitations and
storehouses ; the conservative sense displayed in the erection of
guards, to keep pillaging insects from entering their front apertures, or
outer doors, — we feel that the magnificent social economy, practised
by this insect, cannot be dictated by self-will, self-culture, or instruction
derived from any quarter.

In the construction of the honey-comb, one of the highest principles
of mathematics is strictly observed. The principle is called maxima
and minima. This problem had long been unsettled by the most
learned mathematicians. The celebrated M'Claurin, a disciple of New-
ton, by a fluxionary calculation, at length solved the problem, and
determined the proportions of a certain angle ; and he found, by the most
exact measurement the subject could admit of, that it is the very angle
in which the three planes in the bottom of the cell of a honey-comb do
actually meet. To call this extraordinary knowla^ge by the name of
intuition, or instinct, as we generally do, fails to convey the true
definition. We should call it divine teaching. When, therefore,
the inferior portion of animated nature evidences the eternal presence
of a divine Creator, and a divine Teacher, is it to be maintained for a
moment, that man, the chief work of his hand, should be denied those
advantages conferred on insects and quadrupeds? That man was
blessed at different periods, before and since the deluge, with divine
revelations for his guidance in this world, is attested by Scripture.

Returning, however, to the early science manifested by the ancients,
we find the art of indicating ideas by man to man, through signs and
symbols, was very early known to the Egyptians. The first mode
established was pictorial marks. The figure of a man expressed an
idea. The varied positions, attitudes, and postures, of the man repre-
sented variations of the idea, or separate ideas. Parts of the human
body also denoted thoughts and ideas ; and so of figures of quadrupeds,
fishes, birds, trees, mountains, Stc. The creations of nature were thus
used by the early scribes and linguists, as the medium of indicating their
thoughts

The writers of this symbolic character began at the top of a page or a
monument, and carried the subject downwards. Square obelisks of hewn

12 SYMBOLIC WRITING.

Stone, of about seventy to ninety feet high, were "erected by the early
kings of Egypt in front of their pyramids, on which, beginning at the top,
were recorded, in symbol, the events of their reigns. Then there were
different sets of natural objects, which were used at discretion, to
represent the same set of ideas.

When the ideas to be entableted were of a sublime, celestial, noble,
chivalrous, heroic character, the most noble animals and the grandest
objects of creation were used in the symbolic alphabet. When they
were of an opposite character, — when scorn, contempt, or hatred, were
to be imbodied, — the meanest, most loathsome reptiles were figured.
The Egyptian scribes were expert at this kind of writing, and are said
to have been able to indite as quickly as a man could speak.

In the progress of the art, for greater expedition, parts only of the
human body, and parts of other animals, birds, trees, fishes, &ic., were
used, the suppressed portion being understood; and thus an alphabet
of curves, angles, and lines, came into use, perfectly well understood by
the people of those primeval ages.

Different branches of the human family used different marks to make
up their alphabet ; and hence that variation which we see in the writing
of the several natlon| of the earth. Symbolic writing, after being used
for two thousand five hundred years, ceased generally in Egypt about
three hundred years before Christ.

In the same way was language, or the sounds of the human voice,
used to express human thoughts or ideas. The voices of animals and
birds, as well as men, were, by the ancients, called into requisition to
form a dialect. The higher we mount up to the source of language,
the more imitative of nature shall we find the expression of ideas.
Thus, in Egypt, says Gliddon,

The name of an Ass was Yd, from his bray ;

". " " " Lion " Mooee, from his roar ;

" " " " Cow " Khc, from her loiv ;

" " '• " Frog " Croor, from his croak;

" " " " Cat " Chdoo, from her mew;

" " " , " Pig " Rurr, from his grunt ;

" " « " Serpent " Hoff, from its hiss.
There are very many other words traced to the cries and chiruping
of birds ; but there is enough in the above example to explain the
simple roots of language. The Irish language, of which I shall have
much more to say hereafter, was constructed upon the same principles,
in very remote ages, by a branch of the Egyptian family called Phce-

EGYPTIAN WORSHIP. IS

7iictans, for which reason, it is the most expressive of any known
language. No language can so powerfully express the varied sensations
of adoration, joy, grief, love, anger, merriment, scorn, contempt, as the
Irish. But to return.

The form of government first instituted by the Egyptians was a
hierarchy, or government of the sacred priesthood. A religious pon-
tificate was established at Thebes. The system of discipline established
among them was complex and matured. Its leading characteristics
were political forethought, intellectual discrimination, equity, and moral-
ity. It extended the dominion of Egypt over the nations that surround-
ed it. In process of time the civil power of the Egyptian priesthood
was struck down by the usurping arm of a military chieftain, and then
commenced the reign of the kings, or " Pharaohs."

But the moral power of the priesthood over the mind remained and
endured, owing to its intrinsic utility to the happiness of man, for three
thousand years ; and yielded only at last to the superiority and divine
strength of the Christian system. What the form of that religion was,
which thus held sway for so long a period, it is not my province to
describe. Its general principles, however, may be glanced at. They
were, a belief in a divine Author, or Origin ; the sun being the visible
manifestation of that Supreme E^eing, which they worshipped by
offerings of sacrifice : they believed in the immortality of the soul ; in a
future state ; in judgment, rewards, and punishments ; in a general
resurrection ; and also, that the soul, on the death of the body, passed
immediately into some other animal, — bird, fish, or insect, — according,
to the "judgment" of Isis and Osiris, (male and female deities,) in
which it existed for a certain period, passing from stage to stage, to
either final bliss or final suffering, or extinction.

A system of celestial adoration and belief, which enabled an enduring
hierarchy to hold subordinate, for three thousand years, the wild passions
of a warlike and powerful people, such as the Egyptians once were,
and which continued its sway, after their fall, in spite of foreign inva-
sions, and even ages of slavish submission to the conqueror, cannot be
viewed by the most Christian man with any other feelings than those
of wonder and respect. When we know the powerful hold it had on
the mind of the Eastern nations, we are not surprised at the zeal dis-
played by the early Christians in obliterating the literature in which its
mysteries were so thoroughly interwoven. The same zeal was dis-
played by St. Patrick in Ireland, who, with, his own hands, burnt
several hundred volumes of Druid literature, consisting principally of

14 EGYPTIAN PRIESTHOOD AND THE PHARAOHS.

poetry, which was so fascinating in its conception and measure, yet so
impregnated with Druid rites and doctrines, that the apostle deemed its
existence dangerous to the Christian doctrine he had just promulgated.

The first mlers of Egypt were the priests. They united in their
persons sacred and temporal authority. This form of government is
called a theocracy. The ministers of religion were also ministers of
science and knowledge, uniting in their persons two of the most influ-
ential missions with which man can be invested — the worship of the
Deity and the cultivation of the human intellect.

This theocracy was necessarily despotic ; and, in the progress of the
nation, a military power was created to support the government.

Society was then divided into three classes — the priests, the military,
and ^^Q people. A rivalry soon sprang up between the first two. The
physical power being in the hands of the military, a military chieftain —
a soldier of fortune — seized the sceptre of dominion, established a royal
government, and made the throne hereditary in his line of descendants,
through a long future.

This first Pharaoh (a term which meant Icing) is known as Menes.
He began his reign as king of Upper and Lower Egypt about two
thousand five hundred years before Christ. That the Egyptians, under
their Pharaohs, became a mighty nation, and held that position for
unnumberedages. is well attested. Egypt held subject to her sway, at
one period, Palestine, Syria, Arabia, Assyria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor,
Libya, Barbary, and other remote nations, in tribute or in bondage.
From the Old Testament, or from profane history, we could derive only
a limited or partial view of the true greatness of the Pharaohs; and the
present race of Egyptians are themselves totally ignorant of events to
them so momentous.

"But when," says Gliddon, "we are enabled, through the discov-
eries of hieroglyphical science, to read, translate, and understand the
legends still sculptured on Egypt's vast monuments, and decipher the
written pages of her crumbling papyri, we are enabled to bring forward
her history a speaking witness of her glory."

The first objects in Egyptian prowess which attract the attention of
the reflective, are those stupendous monuments of human labor and
skill, the pyramids. Properly have they been described "one of the
wonders of the world." They are strewed along the banks of tlie Nile,
from Memphis back to the junction of the white and blue forks of that
great river, at Meroe, covering a line of fifteen hundred miles. They
are so numerous, that if placed, as lighthouses, ten miles apart, they

PYRAMIDS.

would be sufficient to surround the whole coast of North and South
America, and still leave a heavy balance. And yet each of these
monuments seems, to our eyes and senses, as if it were the work of an
entire nation for many years.

And, more singular still, the stones used in their erection were all
taken from one quarry, — in the mountains known as the "Libyan chain,"
— carried in boats against the current of the river, in some instances
seven or eight hundred, or a thousand miles ; squared, cut, chiseled,
and then raised to altitudes, varying with the size of the erection, from
ninety to four hundred and fifty feet. Calculations have been made,
by the learned, as to the number of tons' weight of stone which were
used in the erection of those extraordinary piles.

One of the largest, at Memphis, a very ancient city of Egypt, is thus
measured : Height, four hundred and fifty feet ; square feet at the base,
seven hundred and forty-six feet ; cubic feet of masonry, thirty-two
millions and twenty-eight thousand feet ; tons' weight of stone, six mil-
lions eight hundred and forty-eight thousand, of good limestone, cut into
blocks varying from two to five feet square ; and the pile covered thir-
teen acres of surface. The pyramids which stand along the valley of
the Nile are of various sizes. The total number (including those in
Ethiopia, a remote region of Upper Egypt) has never yet been accu-
rately given. About one hundred and eighty have been numbered ;
many have been measured. Some are built entirely of stone ; and so
accurate and so exact have been these ancient people in their great
works, that the names of their kings, and the dates of their erection,
have been chiseled into the stones, in the symbolic character of the
time. And further; duplicate marks have been cut into the quarry
bed from whence the stones were excavated.

Some of the largest pyramids were built of sun-burnt brick, made of
the alluvial mud washed down in the waters of the Nile, in a journey
of four thousand miles from the interior of Southern Africa. (The
source of this river no white man, save Bruce, has ever yet explored.)

Brick-making, in ancient Egypt, was a business which employed
great numbers of the people. The artificial soil, deposited annually over
the Egyptian valley by the periodical overflowing and subsiding of that
singular river, the Nile, has ever enabled the people to raise abundance
of grain without much labor. And the kings and priests, observing the
danger of permitting the people to simmer in idleness, employed them
in making bricks, quarrying stone, and erecting those huge, everlasting
monuments of their existence, which still remain, and probably will

16 BRICK-MAKING IN EGYPT. — MUMMIES.

during the full period assigned to the earth itself. Each of those pyra-
mids was erected to receive the remains of a king and his family, and
perpetuate his name to future generations. Within each there is found
a chamber, or chambers, for the dead.

The sun-burnt brick, made from the alluvial deposit of the Nile,
seems to be of eternal endurance. Some of the pyramids are built
altogether of that material, bound by a cement mortar, the component
parts of which are now unknown. It was the custom of each Pharaoh
to commence his pyramid at the commencement of his reign, marking
the brick, while in process of manufacture, or the stone, with his name
and degree, and to continue to heap layer upon layer, according to true
mathematical principles, until a square pyramid arose before his own
eyes, which was to perpetuate his name and deeds to posterity. The
great object of the Pharaohs appears to have been to excel each other
in the size of their pyramids. Hence the labor not only of their own
people, but of all the nations they conquered, was called in to aid in
the erection of those stupendous works.

As mausoleums of the dead, these pyramids present other features
calculated to awaken our wonder. The process of embalming, and the
materials used in the process, have long since become a mystery to the
most scientific of modern men. Since the French possessed themselves
of Egypt, about forty-five years ago, and forced open the ancient shrines
to the inquiring eyes of science, thousands of embalmed bodies have
been brought to Europe, which had been preserved, — flesh, bones,
and muscles,— by the process of embalming, for full four thousand years.
And the travellers of the present day assure us there are yet millions
of these preserved bodies within the pyramids and mausoleums of
Egypt.

Mr. Gliddon exhibited a set of earthen jars, four in number, as speci-
mens of those found in sets nearly alongside every embalmed body.
These jars contained the heart, liver, and intestines, of the deceased,
which were drawn out preparatory to the body being embalmed : a
composition of pitch, lime, and some other ingredients, was then intro-
duced into the disemboweled body. It was next swathed in pitched
linen or cotton cloth, from the head down around the feet, in intermina-
ble folds. Between each layer there was introduced a hot liquid, of a
pitchy compound, which completely bound together the outside coatings,
and rendered the body within impervious to air or moisture. This art is
now totally unknown.

But what surprises us still more, is the degree of refinement and

SHROUDINGS. MANUFACTURES OF EGYPT. 17

3xcellence which their woven textile fabrics, whether of linen or cotton,
found around those venerable mummies, plainly indicate.

The microscope has been applied to the material of those shroudings,
to ascertain whether the thread was spun from cotton or from flax ; but
the most accurate and scientific observers could not decide, some
alleging them to be from a cotton, oihers from a flaxen fibre. That
the art of spinning and weaving, in its advanced stage, was well known
to those ancients, is proved, by their exhumed shroudings, beyond all
doubt or dispute.

Within the pyramidal chambers, castings of the dead, in clay, have
been found, which display a high degree of advancement in that art.
There have also been found images of the dead, sculptured in stone,
laid by the side of the deceased. Millions of little glass images of their
deities Isis and Osiris are found within every mausoleum ; some of
which were colored in the manufacture, and all of which evince the
existence of a thorough knowledge of glass-making, a thousand years' be-
fore the period hitherto set down by the learned, as the era of the dis-
covery of that art. The earthen jars found, in great quantities, amongst
the embalmed dead, prove their knowledge of pottery. Specimens of the
glass and earthen ware, manufactured by the Egyptians four thousand
years ago, have been exhibited in Europe and America ; and they
equal any thing of the same kind manufactured in the present time.
Indeed, the glass specimens surpass the product of the present day. for
they were beautifully colored during the process of manufacture — a
degree of refinement to which moderns cannot aspire. The knowledge
displayed by these remote people, in every branch of science, is truly
surprising. They were the inventors of the arch, in architecture, in all
its variety, a thousand years, at least, before either Greece or Rome had
a social existence. The'' Gothic'' arch is found in Egyptian monuments
which date before the time of Abraham. The pointed arch and the
circular arcli — the latter used in watercourses — are inventions of the
Egyptian age, or probably of ages anterior to the flood.

The Egyptians quarried and hewed the hardest granite blocks, some
of which were one hundred to one hundred and twenty feet in length,
ten feet in width, and eight feet in depth. These were conveyed from
the Libyan quarry, hundreds of miles, and raised several hundred feet,
to their appointed places in their everlasting piles.

The " Doric column," the father of the order of pillars, erroneously
attributed to the Greeks, is simply an Egyptian pillar, shaped from the
solid block : it Is fluted, in concave hollows, from the top to the bottom ;
3

18 ARCHITECTURE. METRE.

the top is surmounted by a simple circular capital ; the base rests on a
low, square pedestal. Several of these ancient columns are still to be
seen among the ruins of Egypt, which were erected many ages previous
to the existence of Athens or Rome.

The knowledge of metre, or measurement, was well understood by
those ancient people. On the blowing up of one of the monuments, by
Mohammed Ali, for the puqiose of getting stone to erect a military fort,
a wooden measure was discovered amongst the rubbish, which was
found to be two cubits, or forty-two inches, long. It was notched in
metrical distances, like our modern rules, by fingers, palms, and spans,
and proved to be a rule or measure, which belonged to one of the
masons employed on the monument three thousand five hundred years
ago. The measure dropped from the woi'kman's hand amongst the
stones, and was found imbedded in the mortar.

This invaluable relic of ancient art is in the custody of the French
embassy, and, I suppose, is «ow deposited in the archives of that nation.

The learned explorers, who purchased it of the workmen, applied it
to many of the entrances and chambers of the pyramids. It proved to
be the measure by which they were all erected ; the entrances to all are
equal tp two cubits, or forty-two inches of our measure. The " mhit "
of the ancients was the length of the arm of a full-grown man, from the
elbow to the top of the second finger ; the " span " was the breadth
described by stretching asunder the thumb and second finger ; the
"palm" was .the breadth of the four fingers of the hand, without the
thumb; the " finger '' was simply the breadth of that joint, which is
something less than an inch; the "fiathom" was the length, from
finger to finger, of a full-grown man's arms extended at opposite sides.

The cuUt was the common term of measurement amongst the
ancients. There were the royal cubit and common cubit, which diifered
a little in dimension from each other. The cubit was the measure of
ancient Ireland ; the doors of the round towers are exactly two cubits
wide ; that of Roscrea is three feet and six inches, equal to two cubits.
The legislative hall of Tara measured two hundred and fifty cubits
long. The ark of Noah was three hundred cubits long.

The Egyptians also perfectly understood the seasons, and the revo-
lutions of the heavenly bodies ; they fixed the year to consist of three
hundred and sixty-five days. It was so established in the times of
Herodotus, four hundred and forty years before Christ. Plato, the
celebrated Greek philosopher, who studied at Heliopolis, in Egypt,

EGYPTIAN CALENDAR. ART. 19

bears testimony to the early establishment of a calendar amongst them.
Champollion declares that the dates on the tombs would establish the
existence of a national calendar in Egypt two thousand years before
Christ. It is said, moreover, that the early Egyptians pledged their
kings not to alter their calendar.

The round towers of Egypt and of India should here receive a notice ;
but I purposely reserve this feature of Egyptian antiquity until I come
to treat of the round towers of Ireland, they being the emanation of a
common age and a common race.

I would here insert, from Mr. Gliddon, a pithy description of the
state of arts and science in ancient Egypt: "Will not the historian,"
he says, " deign to notice the prior origin of every art and science in
Egypt, a thousand years before the Pelasgians and Phoenicians studded
the isles and capes of the archipelago with their forts and temples, long
before Etruscan civilization had smiled under Italian skies ?

" Philologists, astronomers, chemists, painters, architects, physicians,
must return to Egypt to learn the origin of language and writing ; of
the calendar, and solar motion ; of the art of cutting granite with a
copper chisel, and of giving elasticity to a copper sword ; of making
glass with the variegated hues of the rainbow ; of moving single blocks
of polished granite, nine hundred tons in weight, for any distance by
land and water ; of building arches, round and pointed, with masonic
precision, antecedent, by two thousand years, to the Cloaca Magna
of Rome ; of sculpturing a Doric column, one thousand years before
the Dorians are known in history ; of fresco painting, in imperishable
colors ; and of practical knowledge in anatomy. Every craftsman can
behold, in Egyptian monuments, the progress of his art four thousand
years ago ; and whether it be a wheelwright building a chariot, a shoe-
maker drawing his twine, a leather-cutter using the self-same form of
knife of old as is considered the best form now ; a weaver throwing the
same hand shuttle ; a whitesmith using the identical form of blowpipe
which is but lately recognized to be the most efficient ; the seal engra-
ver cutting, in hieroglyphics, such names as Shoopho's, above four
thousand three hundred years ago ; or even the poulterer removing the
pip from geese. All these and more astounding evidences of Egyptian
priority, now require but a glance at the plates of Rosellini, which have
been engraved from original scenes, sculptured into the enduring monu-
ments of Egypt."

As to tlie advanced state of learning, and the great numbers of written

20 SCIENCE. LIBRARIES. HISTORIES.

books which abounded in ancient Egypt, a glance or two will disclose
enough.

Every one has heard of the destruction of the celebrated library of
the Egyptian city of Alexandria, where many thousand volumes were
destroyed by popular fury, during the career of Julius Caesar through
Egypt, fifty years before Christ. That was the largest and most valua-
ble collection of antiquity ; yet Caesar, while defending the arsenal,
could not save it from destruction.

The Tyrian and Phoenician annals were destroyed by Alexander the
Great. Poems of all sorts, and particularly epic poems, were common
in Egypt, and were publicly chanted to the praise of deities or theiv
heroes. Homer, it is said, visited Egypt about nine hundred years
before Christ ; and the poet Naucrates charges him with gleaning from
Egrjptian bards the ideas which, with such sublimity of thought and
diction, he perpetuated in his Iliad and Odyssey.

Orpheus, Pythagoras, Plato, and Aristotle, borrowed much of their
philosophy from the Egyptians. Plato was educated in Egypt.
Whichever way we turn, amongst the literary monuments of the past,
we shall behold Egypt the fountain of science, the school of post-dilu-
vian man. — Perhaps this is the best place to pass up the stream of
history to its extreme or obscure source, and note the great remaining
authorities which delineate the progress of mankind to modern ages.

The Pentateuch was the earliest record of the Jews. It was looked
upon as so sacred, that every letter was counted. Yet, when the
Christians argued from that very book, to prove the divinity of Christ
by the exactitude of the patnarchal prophecies, the Jews then interpo-
lated their o\\'n sacred chronicle. The Septuagint was a translation
into Greek of the Hebrew Pentateuch, which was performed in the
reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, two hundred and forty
years before Christ, when seventy learned men sat in the Isle of
Phai'os, Alexandria, to make the translation from a copy of the Law,,
sent by the high priest of the Israelites to Philadelphus, at the latter's
solicitation, in return for the liberation, by that monarcii, of one hundred
thousand Jews. The Hebrew copy came from Jerusalem to Alexan-
dria, written on parchment, in letters of gold. The Egyptians, besides
the memorials on their monuments, kept a national record, called " the
old chronicle : " this is lost. A fragment only of the writings of Mane-
tho, one of tiieir most celebrated historians, has come down to us.

Manetho was a learned Egyptian, a native of the eastern Delta, in

FATHERS OF HISTORY. 21

Lower Egypt, high priest and sacred scribe in Heliopolis, who lived
about two hundred and sixty years before Christ, and, at the request
of Ptolemy Philadelphus, composed, in the Greek language, a history
of the kings of Egypt, from the earliest times down to the invasion of
that nation by Alexander the Great, three hundred and thirty years
before Christ. One only fragment of his history has come to us,
which is copied verbatim into Josephus's work. Moses and the other
writers of sacred history devoted themselves merely to a history of
the Jewish family. Moses flourished twelve hundred years before
Christ, and was an Egyptian, educated at Memphis. Eratosthenes of
Cyrene was the superintendent of the great Alexandrian library, two
hundred years before Christ, and sixty years after Manetho. His
original work, a catalogue of Egyptian kings, has perished, except
an extract preserved by Syncillas, which he copied from another, whose
works have also perished. Herodotus is the well-known Greek writer,
styled the father of hisiory ; he was in Eg3^pt about four hundred
and forty years before Christ ; his visit there was made during the
dominion of the Persians, after Egypt had fallen fvom her pristine
greatness. He prepared a historj^ of his travels, and the best account
he could compile of Egypt, which lie read in the Olympic circus,
before his countrynven, the Greeks. Jtilhis Cctsar wrote sketches
of the nations he had conquered, denominated Commentai'ies, about
fifty years before Christ. Diodorus the Sicilian wrote forty years
before Christ ; and the next great authority on ancient history is Jose-
phiis, the well-known Jevs'ish historian, who wrote at Roine, soon
after the fall of Jerusalem, one hundred years after Christ, or there-
abouts. Then followed the Christian writer and prelate, Clement of
Alexandria, about one hundred and ninety years after Christ — Strabo,
Tacitus, Pliny, Polybius, and numerous others who swell the stream of
history by their writings. I shall show, in the proper place, the early
liistorians of Ireland, who wrote of that ancient nation before and subse-
quent to the days of Moses.

22 THE PHffiNICIANS.

SECTION III.

The Phoenicians. — Their Cities, Tyre and Aradin. — Their Dominion. — Helped in
the Erection of Solomon's Temple. — Mysteries of the Phoenician Priests. — The
Greeks taught by them. — The Etrurians. — A Colony of the Phoenicians. —
Character of the Etrurians. — Irish Language derived from them. — Civilization
and Refinement of the Etrurians. — The Irisii Language the Root of the Lathi. —
The oldest Manuscripts in Europe in the Hand- writing of Irishmen. — Dr. John-
son's Letter.

We will now glance at that branch of the great Eastern family, from
which Ireland was directly peopled ; namely, the Phcenigians, " the
people of the waters," the " masters of the seas," as the ancient histo-
rians invariably designate them.

The very ancient Phoenician book, denominated the " Sanconiathon,"
or " Book of first Time," contains the history of the Phoenician nation-
It was translated into Greek, from the old Phosni tongue, (the present
Irish,) by Polybius, the Greek historian, who wrote under Roman aus-
pices and influence. This ancient record attributes to the Phoenicians a
civilization and literature prior to that of the Egyptians. The most
learned of the modern antiquarians have not yet settled the question^
whether the Phoenicians or the Egyptians are entitled to the honor of
priority in the discovery of the radical arts and sciences ; more time,
and still more extensive inquiries, are required to fix this pbint with
greater certainty. Whilst the inquiry goes on, which cannot, terminate
as it may, affect the history of Ireland in the slightest degree, we shall
view an outline sketch of the Phoenician people, who were the first
chief settlers of Ireland, as shall hereinafter be most fully proved by
Irish historians, corroborated by foreign contemporary writers, of every
age, and almost of every nation,-by identity of language, letters, cus-
toms, religion, buildings, coins, weapons, dress, &c. Stc. ; and who
continued in Ireland to be an independent, and, in the words of the
great Dr. Johnson, " an illustrious .race," for upwards of two thou-
sand five hundred years ; '•' the teachers of the West, the ardent
cultivators of lettei-s, arts, and piety."

The Roman writer Strabo says the ancient Phoenicians had settle-
ments in the Belirin Islands, in the Persian Gulf. In these islands
were places called Tyre and Aradin. This brings the Phoenicians
very near the cradle of the human race, the point of dispersion after
the flood. "That they were the Sabeans, and that their object of

THEIR DOMINION. TYRE. 23

adoration was the sun, will," says Sir William Betham, " appear here-
after."

The principal territory occupied by the Phoenicians, when their
power began to swell, was the lands now known as Syria and the Delta,
on the south of the Mediterranean Sea, with Sicily, Italy, Spain, and
Gaul, on the opposite side. It is certain that the communities of men,
which grew up on the borders of the Mediterranean Sea, were direct
emanations from this people, or were instructed by them in laws,
religion, and arts. It is also admitted by all, that the Phoenicians were
a nation contemporary with the Egyptians.

The latter occupied the valley of the Nile, covering some ten or
twelve hundred miles from its discharging points into the sea, towards
its source. The Phoenicians occupied a portion of the Delta, and
the neighbor region of Syria. The Egyptians and Phcenicians were
distinct, but, as abundantly appears, very friendly nations. The Egyp-
tians, residing in the interior country, devoted themselves to agriculture,
science, and war. The Phoenicians, occupying the sea-shores, devoted
tliemselves to the navigation of the seas, to manufactures, to the dis-
covery of foreign lands, to the extension of dominion, and to the propa-
gation of letters, religion, Sic. &c.

The celebrated city of Tyre was one of the Phoenician seats of manu-
facture, and continued, for many ages, the chief seat of manufactures for
the whole world. The textile fabrics of that ancient city, and the beau-
tiful colors which the Phoenician artisans imparted to them, had been, for
many ages, the admiration of all other nations. The " Tyrian purple,"
famous in all history, so infatuated the Roman ladies, that large fortunes
were expended in decorating a single family ; and so far did this infatu-
ation extend, that the emperors issued proclamations which forbade any
but the imperial family to assume the precious color in their dress.
The city of Tyre, which ever excited the jealousy of both Rome and
Greece, was at length destroyed by the ruthless arms of Alexander the
Great, about three hundred and thirty years before Christ.

We are informed, in holy writ, that " Hiram, king of Tyre, sent his
servants to congratulate Solomon on his being made king of Israel.
Solomon then sent to Hiram to announce his intention of building a
temple to the God of Israel, and requesting his assistance to cut the
timber, and quarry the stones. Great stones were quarried, hewn, and
squared, by the workmen of Hiram, and the temple was erected by
Phoenician workmen, for which Solomon bound himself to pay Hiram,
every year, twenty thousand measures of wheat, and as many of oil,
together with twenty cities, called to this day " of the land of Cabul."

24 MYSTERIES OF PHffiNICIAN PRIESTS. GREEKS TAUGHT BY THEM.

" To the PhcEnicians may be traced," says Sir William Betbam, in
his recent very able and learned work on the ancient Celtse, " nearly
the entire mythological system of the ancients." That enlightened
nation confined its religious adoration to one divinity. According as
each new art was discovered, — such as the nature of metals, the science
of sailing in ships, the knowledge supplied by observations of the stars^
anoon, the art of writing, &.c. k,c., — each discoverer was almost dei-
fied ; for it was supposed he was gifted with a divine revelation. Hence
originated the long list of " gods " and goddesses, who ai'e supposed to
preside over the sea, the arts, letters, war, and of which I shall say a
few words presently. But their chief adoration was directed to one
Supreme Being, whom the priests identified in the gorgeous sun.

The mysteries of the Phoenician priests were elaborately constructed,
and artfully calculated to engage the affections and obedience of the
human mind. The Cabiric mysteries and ceremonies of Samothrace,
Lnhros, and Masos, so celebrated among the ancients, are still continued
to our days, under the name of freemasonry. The Sanconiathon
demonstrates that the Phoenician priests allegorized all the discoveries
of learning, transforming the discoverers into mystical deities ; and,
perceiving the anxiety of men, both their own people and foreigners,
for these allegorical mysteries, " delivered them," says the text, " to
their successors, and to foreigners." And thus originated that porten-
tous and overwhelming system of idolatry, which eventually overspread
the nations of antiquity, and which yielded only at last to the pure re-
ligion of the cross. From such simple elements proceeded the complex
system of the Greek and Roman mythology, which has ever continued
to lead captive the imaginations of even the educated portion of the
human race.

The Phoenicians, when they first visited the Grecian isles, in ships
moved by the wind, were considered, by the Greeks, divinities, or supe-
rior beings. The Greeks were then, and continued for several subsequent
centuries to be, a barbarous people. They were regarded as " barba-
rians" by the Egyptians. The first dawn of letters was shed upon them
by their teachers, the Phoenicians and Egyptians. Other nations, that
grew up on the borders of the Mediterranean Sea, received the allego-
ries, mythology, literature, and civilization, of the Phoenicians, and
then fabricated local or individual systems upon then), according to the
whims and fancies of the several hierophants, or learned scribes, who
undertook to interpret these mysteries to their respective followers.
The extensive number of divinities created by the imaginative and
polished Phoenicians, the various attributes conferred on each, enabled

THE ETRURIANS A COLONY OF THE PHffiNICIANS. . 25

the priests and scribes to form an extensive system of illusive divinity,
which gave full occupation to the human mind, and attracted the
uninitiated around their shrines and altars, to receive their instruction, or
to offer them obedience or worship.

Stupendous, amongst the colonies of the Phoenicians, stood the
Etrurians, who occupied, on the opposite shore, the land of " ancient
Etruria,'' known, in after ages, as the seat of the Roman empire, and
latterly as Ttali/. I here take from the able work of Sir William Betham,
already referred to, an entire page, descriptive of ancient Etruna.

" The attention of the British public has been much directed to
Etruscan antiquities by the exhibition, a few years since, In Pall Mall,
London, of the magnificent specimens of sarcophagi, fictile vases,
bronzes, gold ornaments, and other remains of ancient Italy, brouglit to
England by Seignior Campanari. The inscriptions excavated in Etru-
ria were not inaptly termed, by Professor Buckland. a kind of geological
literature. The works of Etruscan art demonstrate high civilization, and
a progress of the human mind equal to the most elevated point of any
Greek or Roman civilization, or even of modern Improvement. The
human face divine of their statuary and painting exhibits a noble physi-
ognomy, a dignity and refinement of character, equal to the admirable
excellence of the manipulation. The prow of a ship was their national
emblem, and the dolphins, and other maritime emblems on their coins,
bronzes, statuary, fictile vases, and pottery, declare their devotion to,
and great progress in, navigation and commerce. The articles of elabo-
rate workmanship in gold and silver declare their sumptuous and
gorgeous magnificence, as well as their progress in that department of
the arts ; while their painting and sculpture, and indeed all their
remains, evince a highly civilized, refined, and glorious people, both by
land and sea ; a people like the magnificent inhabitants of Tyre and
Phoenicia, described by the prophet Ezekiel, of which people the
Etruscans were assuredly colonists ; for they were the only ancient
people of the world answering such a description.

" These wonderful remains of so polished and highly civilized a race,
occupying a period of ages unJcnoum to history, whose very name is
doubtful, fill the mind with surprise and admiration. Their inscriptions
declare their literate character. So polished a people must have had
authors and historians. Some noble statues are represented with
inscribed volumes or rolls in their hands. Where are these? They
were capable of every effort of the human mind, equally with any age
or country ; yet, except a few words to be found in the Roman writers,
4

26 CHARACTER OF THE ETRURIANS.

the people who succeeded ihem in their beautiful country, absolutely
nothing intelligible has come down to us. If their sepulchres exhibit
so much greatness, refinement, and dignity, what splendor might be
expected in their temples, theatres, public buildings, palaces, and the
habitations in which they lived, moved, and acted ! These were above
ground. Their successors, the Romans, ruthless, ignorant, and barba-
rous, have obliterated nearly every trace of them, if we except their
stupendous architecture, some magnificent speciriiens of which have,
by their magnitude, defied the ruthless efforts of the barbarians, and
resisted their puny efforts, while they attributed their erection to super-
natural agency. Such has ever been the fate of civilized nations, when
conquered by barbarians. The fall of the Roman empire, in turn,
produced the " dark ages ; " the Anglo-Saxons destroyed all traces of
Roman literature in Britain. The hostile disposition exhibited by all
barbarous people against civilization and literature, has been very
remarkable. Omar, who destroyed the Alexandrian library, was a
correct specimen of the ferocious and ignorant barbarian of all ages."

Sir William then quotes from the Quarterly Review, 1833, a passage
on this nation. " Etruria is one of the great, and, as yet, unsolved
problems of ancient history. It is clear that, before the Romans, there
existed in Italy a great nation, in a state of advanced civilization, with
public buildings of vast magnitude, and works constructed on scientific
principles, and of immense solidity, in order to bring the marshy plains
of central and northern Italy into regular cultivation. They were a
naval and commercial people, to whom tradition assigned thejiavigation,
at one period, of the Mediterranean. Their government seems to have
been nearly allied to the Oriental theocracies : religion was the domi-
nant principle, and the ruling aristocracy a sacerdotal order."

He then enters into an elaborate history of this extinct nation, which
he justly builds upon the inscriptions on their coins, on their tombs, on
their vases, on their bronze mirrors or specula, on their tables of bronze,
that have been, within the last few years, dug up from beneath the
classic earth of Italy, over which the Roman conquerors trod, uncon-
scious, in their eflxjrts to obliterate the memory of this people, of the
existence of subterranean evidences which would, in other ages, meet
the eye of posterity, and deprive Rome of the honors of originating arts,
science, and mythology, which she so zealously and so unjustly strove
to assume at the expense of her teachers, the Etrusco-Pho^nicians.

This great nation, with its history, was involved in the deepest
mystery, until a critical knowledge of the ancient Irish languao-e,

LANGUAGE OF THE ETRURIANS PROVED TO BE IRISH. 27

acquired late in life, by Sir William Betham, enabled that profound
scholar and antiquarian to perceive, that all their inscriptions, memorials,
and devices, were written in the ancient Irish character ; and
that through the Irish, and the Irish tongue alone, could he unlock the
hidden history of that polished, illustrious people, who once filled Italy,
Gaul, Spain, and Ireland, with memorials of their arts and labor, which
still remain, outliving the countless generations of man, that have washed
over them as the ocean beats over the lasting rocks of Erin's old prom-
ontories.

'' It is not easy to imagine a finer formed head, or a countenance
more expressive of a brilliant intellect, a cultivated, well-stored mind, and
a benevolent heart, than the one here presented. The ring on his left
hand, and the gold chain, or torque, round his neck, declare him a
man of high rank. He was a writer, as appea.rs from the volume in his
hand. His head is encircled with a wreath of oak leaves ; the counte-
nance fills us with bitter regret that the productions of the mind of such
a man should be lost forever. How many ages of progressive civiliza-
tion must have passed away to have produced such a head, and a
pencil, or chisel, capable of making it live to our days ! Where is the
Greek or Roman statue which throws this into the shade, and exhibits
a higher style of excellence in art, or one of which any age might be
prouder ? His very obesity is a proof of civilfzation. He was a benefac-
tor to his country by his writings : probably his nation, anxious to do him
honor, erected this monument to his memory. Anonymous as he is to
us, his merits will not be altogether unappreciated ; for they caused the

28 CIVILIZATION AND REFINEMENT OF THE ETRURIANS.

conception and execution of a piece of art which would do honor to any
•people. We are unable to unroll his volume, or to develop the beau-
ties of his mind ; but we can conceive what such a development of
intellect and expression of countenance might be capable of; and it adds
to our regret that the mental productions of such a people should have
been so completely annihilated by the barbarous policy of their con-
querors. The Phoenician and Etruscan writings were the only means
by which the early history of man could have come down to our days.
The sacred writings are but a history of one family, only incidentally
refemng to other nations. The ' Sanconiathon ' was a recital of the
progress of the human mind in its mental development, and of its dis-
coveries in science, literature, and arts."

Sir William, in another part of his works, shows the ruthlessness with
which the Roman barbarians destroyed every visible work of art or
utility, erected by the Etrusco-Phoenicians. The stupendous works
erected to bring the marshy plains of Italy into cultivation are still
lasting monuments of the genius and power of these people, who had
passed away before the Greeks and Romans emerged from barbarism,
or had learned to write. The Greeks and Romans did not know their
own origin ; much less were they qualified to give an account of their
predecessors. The senate of Rome ordered the books written by
Numa Pompilius to be burned, four hundred years after his death —
a strong testimony against their literary taste and judgment. What must
the feelings of an Irishman be, who reads these pages, and is informed
by them that his remote ancestors were some of these illustrious
Etrusco-Phoenicians, who brought with them into Ireland the language,
literature, arts, and sciences which they possessed ? and further, when
the fires of learning were extinguished by both Greek and Roman con-
querors throughout the East, that to the learned descendants of the
Phoenicians, who flourished in Ireland, " in the holy island of the
West," were they indebted for many of the wandering torches that re-
kindled the sacred flame of literature throughout the Roman and Greek
dominions? — all which shall duly appear as we proceed.

As to the language of the ancient Irish, Betham has the following
luminous passage in his book : " It is repugnant to common sense to
suppose that this remote island was the means by which civilization
was communicated, in the heghming, to the countries surrounding the
Mediterranean Sea, and the 'East, which seems to be implied when we
assert that the roots of many words in the Greek and Latin are to
be found in the Irish language ; but if we are able to show that this

THE IRISH LANGUAGE THE ROOT OF THE LATIN. 29

language is the same as that spoken by the people who occupied Italy,
and the countries bordering on that sea, before Greece or Rome were
heard of, the absurdity vanishes, and the fact ceases to surprise. A
man will laugh in your face if you assert that the Latin is mostly
derived from the Irish ; but if you are able to show that the Etruscan
inhabitants of Italy spoke the same or a kindred language before the
Latin had existence, if he be not convinced, his sarcasm and ridicule
will certainly be deprived of all its point."

The above, and a few other passages, which I shall just now quote
fi'om the same able and honest author, are more than sufficient to awake
the dullest mind to a consideration of the vast literary and artistical inter-
ests, wrapped in the neglected literature and history of Ireland. "The
manuscripts of the ancient nations of Europe were destroyed by bar-
barous conquerors. The Danes were the only invading enemies of the
ancient Irish ; and, never having possessed more than detached spots
here and there on the coast, had no opportunity of possessing or destroy-
ing, universally, the books of Ireland. The policy of England has been
to make war against the Irish language ; but they have not been able to
annihilate Irish literature. There still remain manuscripts of more

REMOTE ANTIQ.UITy" IN IrELAND THAN IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, NOT

ONLY IN THE Irish, BUT IN THE Latin TONGUE ; and the oldest iu
the libraries on the continent are the production of Irishmen, who were
the teachers of the early ages of Christian Europe, as well in

LEARNING AS RELIGION."

There are in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, many Latin manu-
scripts, on vellum, of very great antiquity ; among them a copy of the
Gospels, called the " Book of St. Patrick," of the fifth century ; an-
other copy of the Gosp&ls, called the " Book of Kells," a magnificent
volume, written in uncials, beautifully and elaborately illuminated, on
the space leaves of which are entered deeds and grants from the Irish
raonarchs, long before the English invasion. The Irish manuscripts
at the abbey of St. Gall, in Switzerland, are of very remote
antiquity; "and," continues Sir W. Betham, "indeed the most
ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS IN EuROPE locre ivritteii by Irishmen or
their disciples." The old manuscript discovered in the Irish monas-
tery of Bobbio, or Babia, Italy, is certainly of the fourth century.
These facts ought to have due influence on the minds of the learned,
in removing the blind prejudices which throw a doubt upon Irish
literature.

Sir William again quotes one of Dr. Johnson's letters to Charles

30 THE OLDEST MANUSCRIPTS IN EUROPE WRITTEN BY IRISHMEN.

O'Conor, to mark the anxiety felt by that erudite scholar, in relation
to Irish history and the Irish language.

" To Charles O'Conor, Esq. :

" Sir, — I have lately, by favor of Mr. Faulkner, seen your account
of Ireland," (alluding to a short dissertation published by Mr. O'Conor,)'
and cannot forbear to solicit a prosecution of your design. Sir William
Temple complains that Ireland is less known than any other country,
as to its ancient state. The natives had but little leisure, and less
encouragement for inquiring; and strangers, not knowing the language,
ha^'e had no ability. I have long wished that the IrisJi literature were
cultivated. Ireland is known by tradition to have been once the seat
of piety and learning ; and surely it would be very acceptable to all those
who are curious, either in the origin of nations or the affinities of
language, to be further informed of the revolutions of a people so
ancient, and once so illustrious. What relation there is between
the Welsh and Irish language, or between the language of Ireland and
that of Biscay, deserves inquiry. Of those unextended tongues it
seldom happens, that more than one are understood by any one man ;
and therefore it seldom happens that a fair comparison can be made. I
hope you will continue to cultivate this kind of learning, which has too
long lain neglected, and which, if it be suffered to remain in oblivion for
another century, may perhaps never be retrieved. As I wish well to
all useful undertakings, I will not forbear to let you know how much
you deserve, in my opinion, from all lovers of study, and how much
pleasure your work has given to,

" Sir, your most obliged and most humble servant,

" Samuel Johnson.

" London, JIj)ril 9, 1757."

These undoubted testimonies of our former position amid the nations
encourage me to perform the labor of wading through immense masses
of material, furnished by the events of thousands of by-gone years, and
should prompt the reader, if he be a lover of literature, or have an Irish
heart in his bosom, to peruse these pages with attention, and learn from
the facts put forward the illustrious character of the Irish nation — a
nation that yet lives, in all her ancient piety and glory, her learning
and poetry, in the persons of her 0'Connell,her Mac Hale, her Mathew,
and her Moore ; and lives in all her ancient bravery, in her countless
millions of courageous children, at home and abroad.

MUSIC AND POETRY.

DEAR HARP OF MY COUNTRY.

BY MOORE.

When Moore composed his inspiring songs, Ireland was prostrate, and her bard
wrote in tears, breatliing only the sighs of suffering and despair. Yet the tears
of the bard fell upon and irrigated the land he mourned, and there grew from the
sacred earth a crop of undaunted heroes to vindicate her freedom. Were Moore's
career to begin now, his songs would express the sentiments of resolve and defiance
which proudly characterize the Irish nation. This feeling will be to some, I hope,
an apology for presuming to add a verse to the following song, which Moore wrote
at a period of his life when he had made up his mind to resign the lyre of his
country — a resolution which, however, he found himself unable to keep. The
stanza which I have added is printed in Italic.

In Moderate Time, with much Warmth of Expression.

n'^

-^ — —

1. Dear Harp of my country! in darkness I found thee; The

■# — I 1^~

— ^"^'^^ ^

-T— ^ ^— ^— >■

cold chain of si - lence had hung o'er thee long, When

proudly, my own isl - and Harp, I unbound thee, And

gave all thy chords to light, free - dom, and song. The

:t=:p?-=-^-pi:

=^E

-~^-f-

warm lay of love, and the light note of gladness, A

— — -jt — #~ ^ — r-r-n^i ^ — ^ — »^ — ~ i

- - wa - ken thy fond - est; thy live - - li - est thrill ; But so

MUSIC AND POETRY.

-#--

-t^— ti-

, 1^ KT IN 1^ KT- r-

_«_-Jz^_i — ? — j — zq —

oft hast thou ech - oed the deep sigh of sad - ness, That

e en

-"9 9

in thy mirth it

steal from thee still !

Dear Harp of my country, farewell to thy numbers ;

This sweet wreath of song is the last we shall twine:
Go, sleep with the sunshine of fame on thy slumbers,

Till touched by some hand less unworthy than mine.
If the pulse of the patriot, soldier, or lover,

Have throbbed at our lay, 'tis thy glory alone ;
I was but as the wind passing heedlessly over.

And all the wild sweetness I waked was thy own.

With Animation.

^ut the Harp, that so long hath been silent and weeping.

Resigned by its master in gloom and despair,
Shall again be brought forth from the shrine where 'tis sleeping^

And with glad notes of freedom enliven the air ;
When the voice of the brave ivith its echoes shall mingle,

In the clangor of arms, or the transport of glee, —
For the millions ivho love it will shortly assemble

To proclaim that their nation again shall be free.

CUSHLAMACHREE. [darling of my heart.]

BY MR. CHARLES PHILLIPS,

(the eloquent IRISH BARRISTER.)

e-zt

1. Dear E - - rin, how sweet - ly thy green bo - som

MUSIC AND POETRY.

p— I r

:p=£

ri - ses, An em - e - raid set in the ring of the

sea ! Each blade of thy meadows my faith-ful heart

T^^rZZ.

'r — I r'

-S-

pri - zes, Thou Queen of the West, the world's Cushla - ma -

=3=C3=i-_»:

-S i

--^-hi

chn

Thy gates o - pen wide to the poor and the

~9 I W

1 g r~

"H"

"I #"

-'t-s=:

stranger: There smiles hospi - tal - i - ty, heart -y and

;5:^-f

~1^-

:r:

J?:

'{ ^

_^i^i

free ; Thy friendship is seen in the moment of danger, And the

wan - derer

welcomed with Cush - la - ma - chree !

Thy sons they are brave ; but, the battle once over,

In brotherly peace with their foes they agree ;
And the roseate cheeks of thy daughters discover

The soul-speaking blush that says Cushlamachree !
Then flourish forever, my dear native Erin,

While sadly I wander an exile from thee ;
And firm as thy mountains, no injury fearing.

May Heaven defend its own Cushlamachree !

LECTUEE II.

The Heathen Deities proved to have been Phcenician. — Hercules. — Tinia. — Druid
Fires in Ireland, in Honor of Tinia. — Apollo. — Minerva. —Phoenician Mariners.
— Their first Discoveries. — lo Ptean. — The Irish Language the Key of Ancient
Mythology. — Neptune. — Birth of Minerva. — Mercury. — V ulcan. — Charun. —
Venus. — Pandora's Box. — Castor and Pollux. — Ethis. — Eris. — Mars. — Plu-
tus. — Bacchus. — Herodotus's Opinion on the Greek Deities. — Janus. — Prome-
theus, Discoverer of the South. — The Hydra. — Scylla and Charybdis. — Jupiter
Sancus. — The Seanchus of the ancient Irish. — Confirmation of Irish Tradition
and History, by the Etruscan Inscriptions and Roman Writers.

It was the belief, for a long period, in the schools, that the magnifi-
cent system of mythology which comprehends the divinity worship of
the ancients was invented by the Greeks and Romans. Sir William
Betham demonstrates that the whole of those deities grew from the
inventions and discoveries of the Phoenicians. The man, with that
people, who, by his discoveries, made any addition to the stock of human
knowledge, was deemed inspired, and was revered after his death as a
secondary or den)igod. The art which he invented was considered by
his followers as under his protection. The succeeding practitioners and
cultivators paid him homage, and invoked his aid.

HERCULES.

Hercules was considered the hero of the sun, or of light. He was sup-
posed by the Phoenicians to influence and direct all their affairs. He ruled
the waves, conquered their enemies, and surmounted all their difficulties
by sea and land. " The Greek hero Heracles, and the Latin Hercules,
were evidently adopted," says Betham, " from an imperfect notion of
the true meaning of the Phoenician fiction ; " and he then quotes as fol-
lows, from Herodotus : " Being anxious to know as much as could be
ascertained with certainty of these things, I sailed to Tyre, in PhcBnicia,
because I had heard that in that city there was a temple dedicated to
Hercules. I saw that temple ; it was enriched with many magnificent
donations ; and, among others, with two pillars, one of fine gold, the
other of emerald, which shines at night in a surprising manner. Con-
versing with the priests of this god, I inquired how long this temple had
been built. I found these also to differ from the Greeks ; for they
assured me the temple was built at the same time with the city, and that
two thousand three hundred years were already passed since the foun-

TINIA. APOLLO. NERF. 35

dation of Tyre. I saw also at Tyre another temple, dedicated to the
Thaslan Hercules ; and when I arrived at Thasus, I found there a
temple of Hercules, built by those Phoenicians who founded that city,
during the expedition they made in search of Europe, [i. e., in a
voyage of discovery to Europe,] which was five generations before Her-
cules, the son of Amphitryon, appeared in Greece."

TINIA.

The Phoenician coins and inscriptions represent Tinia as the sun,
the first moving cause, the creator of all. Teinne, in the Irish lan-
guage, signifies " fire of the air, or sky ; " and in Ireland, the worship of
the sun, or Tinia, was anciently held on midsummer-day, twenty-fourth
of June. After the introduction of Christianity, the feast was identified
with the feast of St. John the Baptist.

Before Christianity, the Irish Druids kindled two fires, with great
. incantations and mystery, and drove their cattle between them to defend
them against pestilence and murrain. These they called BeUtaine,
and Baltine, that is, the Jire of the god Baal.

It is probable that the early Phoenicians worshipped the true God,
as Baal Tinne, or the lord creator of all things, having derived that
idea from the original revelation of God to man. In process of time, the
sun, as the most glorious and splendid of visible objects, became the
supposed demonstration of the substance of the Deity; and, as men are
apt to be attracted by matter, they worshipped the sun as the image of
God, created by himself.

APOLLO,

according to the Phoenicians, was the north star ; the fixed polar star,
round which the other stars revolved in perfect order and harmony ;
which idea caused them to create him " god of music." The north
star is spoken of in the Etruscan inscriptions, as the guiding sign by
which the ships were steered, when out of sight of land.

NERF, NERVA, (MINERVA.)

Sir William Betham presents us with several engravings of mirrors,
medals, tombs, &c., in which are imbodied the mysteries, gods, and
inscriptions, of the Phoenicians.

Mirrors. — As this term may require explanation, I may mention
that the mirrors found in the tombs of the Phoenicio-Etruscans,
throughout Italy, which have lain there three thousand five hundred

36 NERF, NERVA.

years, exhibit a knowledge of the ait of engraving, in the ancient work-
men, which surprises the philosopher. These mirrors were formed of
steel, highly polished. Tiie shape was that of a small frying-pan.
The -concave side, brightly burnished, was that which reflected the
features of Phoenician beauty. On the convex side was generally
engraved some national emblem, growing out of the discoveries and
successes of their adventurous mariners. The engravings on these steel
mirrors remain very perfect ; and surprisingly so, when the length of
time they have lain in the earth is taken into account. They are now
deposited in several museums in Italy and other places, and have
afforded plenty of food for reflection to the learned. (See the work of
Mrs. Hall on Etruria.)

Nerf was the goddess of the moon and sea. Her Greek name of
Athena arose from the Phoenician story of her being born from the h^ ad
of Tinia, the supreme god, pronounced still, by the Irish, Thvna,
Anna was the name which, according to Cormac's Glossary, the ancient
Irish annexed to the idea and attributes of Minerva. And Strabo, the
Roman writer, alleges ''the mother of the gods was worshipped in au
island near Britain, in the saaae way as in Sumothrace."

When the Phoenician mariners first ventured to sail over the ocean by
the light of the moon at night, their success was hailed as a new triumph
over the waves. Medals commemorating the event weve cast ; public
manifestations of joy were indulged in ; and hence originated the public
shout or cry of lo Paan, (as appears by the inscriptions on their
medals,) which the Greeks and Romans practised, without being aware
of the original cause. The name of Minerva has been involved in con-
siderable mystery, and must have remained so, but for the light thrown
upon it by the translation of the writings on the Eugubian Tables,
and on the Etruscan coins and medals, which could never have been
deciphered, says Sir William Betham, but through the key presented
in the Irish language.

The prefixing of Mo (good) to the Phoenicio-Ii-ish name Nerf, forms
the Roman Minerva; and the Irish, in after ages, prefixed this epithet
to their Christian saints. St. Cohnan is called Mo Cholmock ; St.
Braccan, Mo Braccan ; i. e., St. Colman, or Good Colman ; St.
Braccan, or Good Braccan. And the term Naom, (holy one,) applied
to Nerf, in the Eugubian Tables, is also given lo the Christian saints.
Naom is the Irish word for a saint, or holy person.

Minerva is represented, in the inscriptions and medals, accompanied
by an owl, because she flies by night ; i. e., a ship sailing by night as

HERMES. SETHLAUS. 37

well as by day. Neptune was a god created by the ignorance of the
Greeks, who, not knowing the meaning of the association of Minerva
with an owl, on the medal, created from the ship a deity, which they
called Neptune. Herodotus says, (Euterpe, 268,) " The Egyptians
affirm that they know not the names of Neptune, Castor and Pollux,
nor ever received them into the number of their gods." The name of
Neptune is made up from corruptions of the Phoenician and Etruscan
names of a ship. Minerva is represented, in most cases, as accom-
panying Hercules in all those actions which are called his labors —
represented by our ideas of wisdom of design ; the good or great science,
or vigorous exertion in performance. Minerva is sometimes denominated
Pallas, as the lord or lady, ov supreme goddess oilight, intelligence, and
wisdom. The serpent, from its wise and subtle attributes, has been
almost always found in the representations of Minerva. In one of tlie
Etruscan mirrors there is a beautiful allegorical engraving, picturing the
birth of Minerva, from the head of the supreme god Tinia. The
group, consisting of male and female deities, expresses the perfection in
art which these ancients had attained, a thousand years before Rome

existed.

HERMES, OR MERCURY.

Hermes, araong the Phcenicians and Etruscans, was. the god of
mining, trade, and wealth. The name originally expressed the idea of
a journey, voyage, message, or the v/ind — swift as the wind in flight.
He is represented naked, with wing;ed sandals to liis feet, and a winged
cap on his head ; he has in his hand two serpents, entwined together.
His name is spelled on Etruscan coins several ways. From this charac-
ter the Greeks created their Hermes^ and the Romans their Mercurius.
The early Romans borrowed the name and attributes of the god from
their neighbors, the Etruscans, He is sometin>es i-eprese^ited as the god
of eloquence-

SETHLAUS^ OR VULCAJNf.

Sethlaus is the name given to the god of metals. He was called
Vulcan by the Romans, who were ambitious to append their own names
to all things, real or ideal, which they unjustly appropriated from other
nations. The name of Sethlaus grew from the circumstance of his
having been a digger of holes in the earth, in search of metals. He is
represented, in die Etruscan engraving of the birth of Minerva, (already
alluded to,) with a hammer in his hand, as just having made an incision
in the head of Tinia, (the supreme,) out of which Minerva sprang,
completely armed and accoutred.

38 CHARUN. LARAN, TURAN. CASTURAND CASATRA. ETHIS.

CHARUN.

Charun appears in almost all sculptures of funeral processions on the
Phoenicio-Etruscan tombs. He is represented with a severe, ferocious
countenance, generally winged and buskined, his ears like those of a
wolf. He is generally represented as accompanied by another winged
male figure, with a benevolent countenance, clothed and buskined,
carrying a torch, who seems to be the friendly guide to the departed
soul, while Charun follows, and sometimes appears to hinder and coun-
teract the benevolent acts of the good spirit. His ferocious countenance
indicates his malevolent character. His boat seems, says Sir William
Betham, to have been of Greek or Roman invention ; for in all the
Etruscan sepulchral sculptures it does not once appear.

LARAN, AND TURAN, (VENUS.)

Laran was the god of beauty, of symmetry, and love. He is repre-
sented on the back of a mirror with Turan, the goddess of beauty ; both
naked, but sandaled, with Apollo and Minerva on the other side. The
goddess Turan is represented by the Greeks as rising from the sea,
and they call her Venus. Turan is sometimes represented, in the
allegorical sculptures 'of the Phoenicio-Etruscans, stooping over a
box, the lid of which she is opening. From this the Greek fable of
Pandora is probably derived. From the inscriptions may be gathered
the meaning of identifying the goddess of beauty with the Pandora box,
which represented the idea of the troubles which have arisen among
men for the possession of female beauty. Turan was represented as
holding the box of love, which she occasionally opened amongst men,
when she wished to generate discord.

CASTUR AND CASATRA, (CASTOR AND POLLUX.)

The Castur or Casatra of the Phoenicians is the Castor of the
Greeks. He is engraved, in the ancient mirrors, dressed in a cloak and
cap, armed with a spear, but with naked legs and feet, and appeared
a voyager or pilot. Among the Greeks, Castor is represented in com-
pany with Poltuke, (Pollux.) Tlieir names indicate their characters of
messengers or guides, navigators, &c. Sir William Betham explains at
length a mirror in which Pohuke is represented describing his voyages
and adventures to the king of the earth.

ETHIS
is represented as the goddess, or emblem, of justice. She is a serious

ERIS. MAMERS. SOMMANO. ANNA PERENNA. BACCHUS. 39

female figure, with wings on her shoulders ; the emblem of a celestial
being, clothed and sandaled, with a necklace and cap on her head.

ERIS,

the goddess, or emblem, of history, is represented on a mirror. She is
naked, except a scarf thrown round her ; she also wears a necklace, and
pointed crown on her head. In her left hand she holds a style, or
point, for writing. Eris is the Greek name for Juno, the goddess of the
air ; but the style in her hand indicates her character as writer of history.

MAMERS, (MARS.)

Mamers was the Etruscan god of terrible war. To him was given
to wife Neriene, or Evil Strength, viz., the destroying sword.

SOMMANO, (PLUTUS.)

Sommano, or Sorano, was the father of the inferior regions, the
minister of death. This was Plutus.

ANNA PERENNA

was the mother of fruitfulness. Anna, according to Cormac's Glossary,
was the mother of the Irish gods — the mother also of food.

BACCHUS.

Under this head, Sir William Betham introduces a lengthy translation
from Herodotus, giving that ancient writer's opinion on the origin of
most of these deities, from which I make the following extract: —

" But what origin is to be assigned to each of these gods, whether
they always existed, and in w^hat form, was, till very lately, unknown ;
and, to use a common expression, till yesterday, [Herodotus lived,
and wrote these remarks nearly two thousand three hindred years
dgoJ] I am of opinion that it was Hesiod and Homer, who lived about
four hundred years before me, who introduced the genealogy and
history of the gods among the Greeks, gave them their names, and
assigned to each his functions, honors, and attributes. The other poets,
who have been supposed to be more ancient, I think lived after Hesiod
and Homer. What I have before related I heard from the priestesses
of Dodona. The Egyptians were the first inventors of festivals, cere-
monies, and transactions with the gods ; all which, I am persuaded, the
Greeks borrowed from that people, because they appear to have been
very ancient among the Egyptians, and very recently introduced into
Greece.

40 JANUS.

" The PhcEnicians and Syrians, who inhabit Palestine, acknowledge
that they received the circumcision from the Egyptians. Whether the
Ethiopians took this custom from the Egyptians, or the Egyptians from
them, is a matter too ancient and obscure for me to decide. Yet I am
inclined to believe the Ethiopians took the custom from the Egyptians,
because we see that none of the Phoenicians, who have any commerce
with the Greeks, continue the practice of circumcising their children.
From Bacchus, who is said to have been the son of Seraele, the daugh-
ter of Cadmus the Tyrian, [Phoenician,] to our time, about one thousand
six hundred years have passed ; from Hercules, the son of Alcmene,
about nine hundred ; from Pan, who, the Greeks say, was the son of
Mercury and Penelope, not more than eight hundred, which is less thaii
they reckon from the siege of Troy."

Herodotus then gives a list of the deities wliom the Greeks created;,
amongst which are the Graces and the Nereides. That ancient author
states that Vesta, Themis, and Juno, were derived from the Pelasgi,
(Phoenicians,) and concludes his remarks with the following remarkable
sentence: " Let every man embrace whatever opinion he thinks right ; 1
have stated mine. I am convinced that the Greeks had not heard of
these gods until they became acquainted with the names of the other
gods, because they ascribe their generation to no higher a period."

JANUS.

The Roman account of this god is, of all their fables, the most con-
fused and unsatisfactory. Like the Greeks, they had a misty notion of
something being meant by the bifronted head on the Etruscan coins,
which they heard that people call lanus, or some name of like sound ;
and, seeing a double-faced head upon them, they concluded that it musS
have related to an ancient king or deity. Various were their opinions
of the origin and attributes of this deity. Some attributed to him the
discovery of the year ; others, the power of creating war or peace. In
the latter light he was viewed and worshipped by the Romans. They
erected a temple to him in Rome, which was kept open during war,
and closed during peace. This temple was closed only three times in
seven hundred years ; namely, once under Numa, once after the first
Punic war, and once under Augustus. But the double-faced heads
found medaled on the Phoenicio-Etruscan coins are now proved, by
their inscriptions, to be a symbol of the first Phoenician ship which had
sailed to the south, and to the north of the Mediterranean Straits.

PROMETHEUS. THE HYDRA. SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS. 41

PROMETHEUS.

Prometheus was created by the Phoenicians from the allegory which
they built up on their discovery of the south seas. The gods, as we
have seen in the great Phoenician book, the Sanconiathon, were no
other than the discoveries made in science by their learned men. By a
certain voyage to the south, made by Promathe, the constellation of
Gemini, in the heavens, was fully developed. Promathe was styled,
in the Phoenician language, a very good god. He is represented as
climbing up to heaven, and from thence bringing down fire, which
meant nothing more than sailing to the south, by which new stars and
constellations, and a warm climate, were discovered.

The confining of Prometheus to a rock, and his delivery by Hercules,
were most likely the adventures of a nautical discoverer, who, absent
from his country through some accident happening to his ship, and unable
to return, was, after some years, discovered and brought back by subse-
quent voyagers, of whom Hercules was the emblem. The vulture or
eagle, represented as preying on his liver, expresses symbolically the
trouble or vexation attending such a situation, which, although distress-
ing, did not extinguish the hope of relief, and of returning to his

country.

THE HYDRA

is the allegory of the Phoenician mariners passing in their ships round
ridges, or points of headland. As soon as one headland is passed,
one of the heads of the hydra is conquered ; and, that difficulty
over, another arises in the horizon, and immediately presents itself to
the coasting mariner.

Thus the heads were apparently interminable, until Hercules (the
personification of the manners) had doubled all these capes, by
exploring the whole coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, and eventually
passed the straits into the ocean. Hercules applied ^re to those heads,
to render them harmless ; that is, the mariners erected fire beacons,
which were kept burning at night for their guidance along the Mediter-
ranean shores. The Greeks made a very pretty nursery story of this

allegory.

SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS.

Charybdis was, to the Phoenicians, a dangerous whirlpool, of a
furious and appalling character ; Scylla a perpendicular rock, close at
hand to the whirl. This explanation deprives Scylla and Charybdis
6

42 JUPITER. SANCUS.

of all their poetry and mystical character, and describes them as any
simple and unsophisticated sailor would.

JUPITER.

The Jupiter of the Greeks and Romans — styled the father or ruhr
of the gods — is the Tinia of the Phoenicians.

The Hesperides were the islands, to the south of the Mediterranean
Sea, where grew the golden apples — orai}ges.

The fables about Hercules' killing the dragon which watched this
fruit is explained by his conquering the difficulties of long voyages, in
quest of those southern islands.

The Titans, and numerous other Greek divinities, originated in the
nautical enterprise and adventure of the Phoenicians. It would require
an entire volume to enter fully into their history, and to show in detail
how small is the claim of either Greece or Rome to the merit, whatever
it may be, of building up the beautiful series of allegories, from which
have grown the fascinating creations of the endless family of heathen
gods and goddesses : which are chiefly to be attributed to the intellect-
ual and enterprising Phoenicians, as also are the appellations and charac-
ters of various stars and constellations in the heavens. I will conclude
my remarks on this head, which are altogether condensed from the
elaborate writings of Sir William Betham, with his history of

SANCUS.

The Sabines, according to Varro and Ovid, had a deity called
Sancus, or Sangus. He was adopted by the Romans as dius Fidius.
The Italian author translates his from the Latin sanctus, (the holy one,)
and makes him son of Jove. He is also said to have been the national
god of the Umbri. The Greeks made him the same as Hercules.

There is not, perhaps, a stronger proof of the identity of the Etruscan
with the Gaelic language, than the name of this deity. Nor can it be
better illustrated than in the following translation of a passage in a
commentary on the Brehon laws, in the Irish language, quoted in
O'Reilly's Irish Dictionary, under the word Seancus, the precise name
of the supposed Sabine deity : —

" Seanchus, that is, old cause ; that is, a very old cause, and every
cause appertaining to antiquity, as senex custodia ; that is, old guardian-
ship, or keeping secure. Seancur, that is, sensus ; Castigatorius, that
is, collected intelligence arranged in order — the old head of knowledge

THE SEANCHUS OF THE ANCIENT IRISH. 43

or law. What the aforesaid great Sheanchus states is, that Sheanchus
is the term applied to perfect knowledge among the learned, as gene-
alogies, such as Genesis, which is in truth genealogical histor3\ Law
books were the origin and foundation of the Irish Sheanchus books.
The delineation or ramifying all true history is called dinseanchus,
that is, accurate and corroborated history. Poetry without fabulous
embellishment, grammar, and the elements of education, among the
learned of Ireland, were so called.

•' Sheancus constitutes, both in name and matter, the original laws of
Ireland. They are sometimes called Fenechus, because they regulated
the Fenians [Phoenicians] and their colonies. It was the foundation of
the knowledge of the tribes of Erinn, and points out their oi'igin, for the
Erenachs [Irish] derive their name from Fhcnius, Farsaid, Phenius
the mariner, or oftheproio of a sMj).""

On this definition of the term, Sir William makes the following com-
ment: "Sheanchus, the old cause or first cause, was the epithet properly
applied to Tinia, the supreme god ; and all the epithets in the foregoing
translation are equally applicable. In this commentary on the old laws
of Ireland, we have all the attributes of Sancus, and even his name set
forth and explained by a writer who lived some centuries ago, in the
west of Europe, in the then almost unknown, and altogether neglected,
Ireland. A commentary written to explain a difficult and obsolete
term, unknown to the vulgar of that day, respecting the old laws of
Ireland, is an evidence above suspicion, clear and irrefragable.

" The Seanchus was also called Feenechus, because the Irish derived
their knowledge of it from their ancestors, the Fenicians, or Phoenicians,
of whom they were a colony. Could any evidence be more direct and
conclusive? We find the language and traditions of Ireland
IN perfect accordance with the statements of the Roman
writers, and all extraneous testimony."

It is said by the same learned authority, that, in distant ages, a colony
from Ireland found the American continent. O'Halloran notes it dis-
tinctly as having occurred in the twelfth century. A Highlander at
Quebec, a few years ago, who understood the Gaelic, acted as interpret-
er between some Indian tribes and the governor of Canada ; and I find
a curious document published in the papers lately from the Indians, in the
western part of New York, in which they use the same word to express
the idea of historian, viz., " sago senota,^' used by the ancient Irish.

***** * * The Buffalo Commercial Advertiser says that
the General Council of Seneca Chiefs, recently held at Cattaraugus, have nominated
and adopted Col. Stone, editor of the Commorcial Advertiser,, a chief of the tribe;
In pursuance of a resolution in council, to that effect, it was unanimously agreed

44 IDENTITY OF THE ANCIENT IRISH AND PHCENICIANS.

that he be received into the clan of the TVliite Heron, and be hereafter known by
the name of Sa-go-sen-o-ta, meaning the man who perpetuates the exploits of
brave men.

SECTION II

Discovery of Ireland by the PhcEnician Mariners. — The Eugubian Tables. — Identity
of the ancient Irish and the Phoenicians. — First Ship that touched Ireland. —
Wexford Harbor. — River Slaney. — The Island dedicated to Nerf. — Called the
Holy Island. — Translation of the Eugubian Tables. — Gillia Keavin. — First
Settlers in Ireland. — Pdlar of Hercules. — Erected by Breogan. — Stanzas from
Gillia Keavin. — Landing and Death of Ith. — Arrival of the chief Milesian
Fleet. — Negotiation with the old Inhabitants. — Battles of Kerry and Meath. —
Death of Scota. — The Damnonii. — Tiieir Settlement in Connauglit and Cornwall.

In the foregoing remarks I have briefly sketched the general character
and position of the great Phoenician family. I will now trace their
adventurous migrations to Ireland.

By the discoveries in the tombs of Italy, made within the last few
years, we are put in possession of unerring data to trace the direct
connection of the ancient Irish with the Phoenicians. The "' Eugubian
Tables," found, in the year 1422, amongst the tombs of Italy, at the
base of the Apennine Mountains, contain records highly interesting to
the Irish anticparian. The material of those tables was bronze, or
mixed metals ; and on them were engraved, in the old Phoenician
(Irish) language, detailed accounts of the discovery of Ireland by the
mariners. " Many passages in these inscriptions," says Sir W. Betham,
"were found so palpably Irish, as to leave little doubt that the whole
was of possible interpretation by means of the Irish language."

These interesting relics of the past consist of seven bronze tables.
They seem to have been erected in some public place in the Phoenician
cities, for the direction of mariners who sailed to Ireland. The in-
scriptions found on them were enigmas to the world, until Sir William
Betham, through his acquired knowledge of the ancient Irish language,
translated, and proved from the record, the identity of the ancient Irish
with the Phoenician people — an identity which extended to language,
customs, religion, arts, sciences, manufactures, commerce, &z;c.

These tables describe the first land touched on reaching Ireland.
The Tuscar Rock, which stands in the ocean in front of Wex-
ford, was the first object they saw. Sir William occupies several
pages of his work with the inscriptions in the old Phoenician charac-

THE TUSCAR ROCK. 45

ter, which he gives in columns, — in juxtaposition with which, he
places a translation into the common or familiar Irish language, and
then a literal translation of each sentence into English. The writing
on the Eugubian Tables runs from right to left, contrary to our present
custom. I regret there is no Irish type in America, to enable me to
print the Irish characters after Sir William's copy.

The following few extracts from his condensed translations will
serve to give some idea of the nature of those inscriptions. The
inscriptions on the tables, No. 1 to 5, exhibit the following outline : —

A Phoenician vessel proceeded, in a strong current, along the coast
of Spain, beyond Cape Ortegal, then called the Nortliern Headland of
the ocean, on which it appears a fire beacon was kept burning for the
benefit of mariners at night. The vessel proceeded, for twelve days,
in a direction due north, observed by the polar star, when they saw
land, and came to a point which they named Car-na, or the Turn. In
another place it is called Tus-cer, or the First Turn, being the first
deviation from the direct northern track. Tliey saw also a large, black
rock, in the middle of the sea. They went round this point, and got
into smooth water, and were free from the heavy seas and swells they
had so long encountered. They called this Car-na-ser-tus-cer, or the
free turn of the first deviation. That point of land bears, to this day,
the name of Carnasoire Point, and the rock the Tuscar Rock. The
peninsula is now the parish of Carne, in the county of Wexford. The
mariners soon discovered the entrance to the River Slaney, which they
entered in safety. The flux and reflux of the tides are described with
extraordinary accuracy, — declared to be governed by a certain law,
and influenced by the moon. They dedicated the country to Nerf,
(Minerva,) by the guidance of whose wisdom they had made the
discovery ; and it is worthy of remark that coins of bronze are still
extant which were made to commemorate this discovery. (Engravings
of those coins are given in Sir William's book.) This land was dedi-
cated to Nerf as it was the first land discovered in the west of Europe,
and was likely to lead to other undiscovered countries.

It was thus Ireland, in those remote ages, was called a Holy Island,
viz., " the illustrious holy one of the sea, the holy guiding one of the
sea, even Nerf" All the points and circumstances of this voyage
are marked out on the metal tables with extraordinary accuracy.

I give a few verses of Sir William's translation from the tables, but
would remark that there are two hundred and fifty pages of his book
occupied with the translations of this singular record of antiquity.

46 TRANSLATION OF THE EUGDBIAN TABLES.

TABLE I.
TRANSLATION.

" 1. O PhcEnicians, this is a statement of the night voyage to Came,
[the Turn,] and of the manner of going with great science over by the
waters of the ocean.

" 2. At first the waves were strong and swelling, which continued
for a long way from the land, but the knowledge of the movino- cause
which acted on the sea, in the lonely course.

" 3. From this, on the voyage, and with the moon's light at night, all
the way to Came, by this valuable knowledge it is when

" 4. Day is away, but with the moon it was a certain and safe course
in the sea a long way from the coast, with the course of the tides,
both to and from that place.

" 5. The currents, both day and night, and the moon's light, will be
favorable all the way to sea. Indeed, in the night, during the voyao-e
at sea, the moon will give light, and thus day and night will be in it.

" 6. Great will be the influence of the moon on the curi'ent, when
steering for a long way from the mouth, both in going out and returnino-
home.

" 7. O Phoenicians, it is very safe and secure navigation this long
distance, steering the course, by the moon's light, to the port in that
island Phoenician, and

" 8. From thence to return by the same course, the same long dis-
tance on the ocean, in the absence of day when there is moon."

The contents of these bronze tables, from which I make the above
extract, are given at great length in Sir William's book ; but, as the
matter is more a study for the learned antiquarian than the general
reader, I shall not quote further, but pass on to the next link in the
historic chain.

Giolla Keavin, Cormac, Declan, and other ancient historians of Ire-
land, who wrote a thousand years ago, have left behind them manuscripts,
compiled and copied from manuscripts still more ancient, that existed
in their time, which give a history of the Milesian families, by which
Ireland was settled about thirteen hundred years before the birth of
Christ. Whether the island was partially peopled by previous adven-
turers from the Phoenician stock, or from a less enlightened race, we
have no means of knowing. Still less have we any means of deter-
mining the probable period when the island was first visited by human

FIRST SETTLERS OF IRELAND. 47

beings. The conjectures of historians are given, speculations and
theories are raised ; but, it must be confessed, the first peopling of
Ireland extends so far back into the dim twilight of antiquity and
tradition, that a candid writer must acknowledge his incapability to
define the period, or trace up the family, which poured the first small
stream of human life into her fertile valleys.

The Eugubian Tables, from which I have made extracts, belong to
an age thirteen or fourteen hundred years before the birth of Christ.
That the tide of emigration from the south-east of Europe began then
to set in towards Ireland, is quite reasonable to suppose. The traditions
found existing amongst the first settlers, by the Milesian colony, state
that the island was peopled three hundred years before their arrival.
This would fix the arrival of the first adventurers about sixteen cen-
turies beford Christ. Tlie first settlers of every country are less
mindful than their successors of the refinements or luxuries of life. It
is quite reasonable to suppose the very first setders of Ireland, like
other pioneers of civilization, felt interested only in the affairs of imme-
diate existence, and heeded little the duty, which they owed posterity,
of transmitting, on stone or brass, a memorial of their enterprise. That
they were Phoenicians is a supposition more likely to be true than any
other. The discovery of the island itself \\'as regarded by the Phoe-
nician mariners and people with as much sur])rise and joy as the discov-
ery of America by Columbus was regarded by Spain and all Europe.

All that we have certainly vouched by the Eugubian brass tables,
are, the facts that the " Holy Island" in the west was discovered twelve
days' sail due north of Cape Ortegal, in Spain ; that the rock in the
front of Wexford, known ever since as the Tuscar, was the first object
observed by the overjoyed mariners ; that this rock looked like a
ship turned upside down in the water ; that the River Slaney was
entered by the mariners, and the navigation of the river was described
as perfecdy safe, — " sailing in and out on the flowing and ebbing of
the tide." The point on the Spanish coast from whence they started
is marked out with extraordinary accuracy. Cape Ortegal is called
the Three Hills, which, indeed, is the figure it exhibits from the sea.
In the front of this bay, standing on a short peninsula, is the famous
Pillar of Hercules, erected, as it is written, by Breogan, the Phcsnician.
It was built as a watchtower, on which a light was kept burning, to
guide the mariners in their traffic to and from Ireland. The Pillar of
Hercules has survived the shocks of countless generations. In the days
of the Romans, it was deemed a work of great antiquity. When that

48 STANZAS FROM CILLIA KEAVIN.

overwhelming power destroyed tlie Carthaginians, who sprang from,
or were a continuation of, the Phoenicians, they consecrated this pillar
to their tutelar god Mars, which proved clearly enough that they knew
not the object for which it was originally erected, which was to direct
the operations of commerce, not of war.

The merchants, composing the board of trade of Galicia, have
erected, in 1809, a new pillar, two hundred feet high, around the old
one ; the object of which is precisely the same as that of the original
erection, viz., to guide mariners at sea. Much has been written re-
specting this tower. The traditions in Spain, respecting its founder
and those of Ireland, singularly coincide, and offer additional evidence
of the truthfulness of Irish history. In the " Annals of the Four
Masters," the " BooTc of Ballymote,''^ the Leabhar Gabhaltas, or " Book
of Conquests," the last of great antiquity, now in the Royal Irish
Academy, are found several allusions to this pillar, which was the first
erection of the city of Brigandsia, aftei'wards Corunna. It was
sung by Giolla Cannhan. ov Keaviu, a very ancient Irish poet, in a long
historical poem, which records the adventures of the family oi Breogan,
the renowned Milesian chief who built this tower, and whose sons led
the first considerable colony to Ireland.

I give from Sir William Betham's translation the two following
stanzas : — ,

39.

" Great skirmishes and battles were fought
Against the renowned Spanish hosts.
By Breogan, of deeds and battles ;
By him was founded Brigandsia.f

43.

" Ith. the son of Breogan, of generous fame,
Was the chief who came to Ireland ;
He was the chief man tvith a tribe,
Of the valiant and powerful race of Gael."

The historians acquaint us that Ith, with about one hundred and
fifty followers, landed In Ireland about one thousand two hundred and
sixty-eight years before the birth of Christ ; and, being suspected by the
earlier inhabitants to be either a spy or an Invader, they attacked and

t The meaning of the term Brigandsia Is, the mountain most remote; and the
founding alluded to the tower, rather than a town.

AKRIVAL OF THE CHIEF MILESIAN FLEET. 49

killed him and the majority of his followers, a few only escaping, who
reached their ships, and returned to Brigandsia, (Corunna.) Among
those who escaped was Lughaigh, the son of Ith, who carried back his
dead father's body, and exhibited it to the posterity of Breogan. " Then
Lughaigh, the son of Ith, went to Tuir Breoghan, [or Corunna,] and
showed his father's dead body unto the posterity of Breoghain."

And the relatives and friends of Ith resolved to avenge their father's
death. Accordingly they summoned all the forces they could com-
mand, and, according to the old text, " they ship dieraselves at
Corruna, or Tuir Breoghain, in Galicia, leaving Spain among the
forraigners, like a boane among a company of quarrelling curres, and to
sea they goe, in thirty shippes, each whereof carried thirty valiant men,
besides their women, and a number of the vulgar sorte, under their forty-
nine commanders, viz., eight sons of Breoghain, '^ Sec. he.

The text goes on to desci'ibe the commanders and the families from
whence they sprang, and informs us that " they all, with their forces,
arrived safe at the haven of Wexford, then called Jubhir Slaine."
This landing took place in 1264 before Christ. [As it begins the
authenticated history of Ireland under the Milesians, I shall hencefor-
ward observe a chronological notation in my historic narrative. The
letters B. C. I shall mean to express the words '•' before Chi-ist,"]

They summoned the rude inhabitants to surrender the government.
To this a reply was returned, stating that they had no notice of this
hostile invasion, and of course were not prepared to resist it ; that it
was contrary to the rules of war to take them thus by surprise, but, if
they would give proper time to collect troops, they would put the fate
of their country on a single battle.

After much negotiation, the following condhions were agreed to:
That the invaders should speedily return to their ships ; their ships clear
the coasts ; after which, if they made good their second landing, the
Damnonii (the name of the prior inhabitants) would deem it an equita-
ble invasion, and either submit or oppose them, as they found most
convenient.

This was agreed to by both sides, and faithfully adhered to by the
Milesian chiefs. They conveyed all their troops and provisions on
board, and put to sea with their whole fleet. When they were fairly
in the main ocean, they tacked about ; but a storm coming on, produced
dreadful consequences ; several vessels were lost ; five of the eight sons
of Milesius were drowned, besides many ladies and captains.

A portion of the fleet, thus shattered, made a landing at the port now
7

50 THE MILKSIAN AND DAMNONIAN BROTHERS.

known as Drogheda, on the north-eastern coast of Ireland. Another
portion relanded in Kerry, near Tralee. A bloody battle took place, in
the latter place, in which the women fought, as well as the men. Scota,
the widow of Milesius, with other ladies, fell in the action, and the
place of her death is marked to this day, and known as Scotha's Hill.
The Milesian army were the victors, and then, joining their companions
in Drogheda, gave battle to the northern inhabitants on the plains of
Meath.

The Milesians vi^ere commanded by three brothers, and the Damnonii
were also commanded by three brothers. The battle raged all day with
about equal success on both sides. The opposing princes eagerly sought
each other, through numbers of wounded and dying. At length they
met. The fate of Ireland, like that of Rome in the days of the Horatii,
hung on the swords of these contending brothers. The three native
chieftains fell by the hands of their invading opponents. The invaders
were now the victors.

The Danaans, or Damnonii, aftej- ruling Ireland for one hundred
and ninety-five years, were completely subdued. Some tribes passed
over to Devonshire and Cornwall, in England, carrying with them
the customs and language of their race. Others of them settled beyond
the River Shannon, in the west of Ireland, now known as Connaught,
where they were permitted, undisturbed, to establish their own form
of government and elect their chiefs ; which distinct law and govern-
ment continued in force, in Connaught, from that period to the third
century of the Christian era. But these old settlers were not persecuted
by their conquerors ; their properties were not confiscated ; their gov-
ernment was not abolished by the ruthless hand of their invaders.
Such a mode of settling a country was reserved for more enlightened
times.

The Milesian adventurers thus became masters of Ireland, by the
laws of the most honorable warfare ; and their sway continued in their
successors for the unprecedented space of two thousand four hun-
dred YEARS.

LECTUKE III.

FROM 1260 TO 860 B. C.

Government established by the Milesians. — The Island divided between Heber and
Herejnon. — Amberghin, the chief Druid. — Heber and Heremon quarrel. — Heber
slain. — Heremon proclaimed King. — Erects the Palace of Tara. — Suppresses
Rebellion. — Arrival of the Tribe called Picts. — Family of Milesius refuse them
an Inheritance. — Names assumed by the Milesians. — Picts settle in ancient
Caledonia. — Seek the Liberty of marrying the Milesians. — Agree that the new
Colony shall be subject to the Milesian King. — Death of Heremon. — Names of
nineteen Kings, who reigned in the Course of four hundred Years. — Improvements
in the Island. — Advanced State of Arts and Literature. — The Law of Colors. —
Ancient Mode of dyeing. — Dress of the Kings. — Gold and Silver Helmets, Ves-
sels, &c. — Ambassador sent to Greece. — Reign of Ollamh Fodhla. — Assembles
a Parliament at Tara. — Dimensions of the Hall. — Order of taking Seats. — Pro-
vincial Division of the Kingdom. — Druid Ceremonies before the. Commencement
of Business. — Sheanechies' Reports. — Rules which governed the Sheanechics. —
Law of Hospitality. — Duty of the Hospitaler. — Betagli Lands. — Hospitality in
Christian Ireland cherished still by the People. — Irish Law of Gavel. — English
Law of Primogeniture. — Contrasted. — Nature of the British Aristocracy. — Law
of Primogeniture in the United States abolished. — Origin of Trial by Jury. — Altled
the Great educated in Ireland. — The whole System of Irish Law transferred by him
to England. — Remarkable Coincidences. . . . — Ancient Sheanichea the pres-
ent Recorder. — Chief Court of Tara. — Laws of Tara. — Origin of Corporations. —
Commentators on and Compilers of Irish Laws. — Ollamh Fodhla's History of the
Milesians. — Laws of Heraldry. — Arms of Ireland. — Ladies' Assemblies in Tara.
— Palace of the Ladies. — The Harp. — Songs: "The Harp that once through
Tara's Halls." — Savourneen Deelish. — Come, raise a Cheer for Erin !

B. C. 1260. The leaders of this successful colony now turned their
attention to the subject of its government and permanent establish-
ment. Hcber-Fionn and Heremon, brothers, and children of Milesius,
as chiefs of the colony, divided the island between them. Heber
enjoyed the sovereignty of all the southern part ; Heremon enjoyed
Leinster and the northern districts. Some of these districts were sub-
divided amongst their sons, and secondary chiefs, according to rank
and merit. The province of Connaught was given to the old settlers,
commonly called the Belgse or Firboigs, and Danaans.

A third son of Milesius, Amhergin, claims our attention. He was
chief of the order of learned persons, who were called ollamhs, that is,
doctors — professors of religious ceremonies and literature. He was a
Druid; a priest and teacher of that stupendous system of mythology,
which prevailed throughout the entire family of the Phoenicians, and
their contemporaries, the Egyptians. That system of religious obser-
vance and worship, if we may so call it, was introduced into Ireland by
the Milesian colony, the chief Druid being Amhergin, or, as some

52 HEREMON SOLE MONARCH OF IRELAND.

write it, Amberghin, brother of the successful warriors. A universal
obedience was yielded to the priest and to the ceremonials. Our
imaginations will aid the historian in conceiving and picturing the gran-
deur, solemnity, and fascination, of these superbly gorgeous ceremonies,
performed in a country newly conquered, and in presence of the very
heroes and priests who had led the colony on to victory, and to the
possession of the most fertile, most fruitful land yet acquired by Phoe-
nician enterprise.

B. C. 1250. The brothers, Heber and Heremon, were not destined
to enjoy very long the fruits of their success. A few yeai-s passed over,
when the wife of Heber threw a covetous eye on a lovely vale, situate
on the border of her husband's dominion, that, by the first partition-
had fallen to the share of Heremon, and which, from its rare beauty,
had attracted the special care and cultivation of the latter's wife. The
wife of Heber urged him to demand of his brother this favored spot.
It was refused : an appeal to arms succeeded the negotiation. The
wife of Heber urged him on to battle. He levied his followers, and led
them to the plains of Gesiol, in Leinster. Here he was met by his
brother, at the head of a hardy band, when that memorable battle
was fought, which gave victory to Heremon, and which lost to the
ambitious queen of Heber, her husband, her crown, and her territory.
Heremon was then proclaimed sole monarch of Ireland. Giraldus
Cambrensis, who wrote in 1176, quoting from the old books to which
he had access, has the following passage in reference to this event : —

" After several battles, and doubtful events of war, between the
brothers, victory fell at length to Heremon ; and in one of those battles,.
Heber, his brother, being slain, Heremon became sole master of the
kingdom, and was the first monarch of the Irish people, who inhabit the
kingdom to this day."

Heremon, now being sole monarch of Ireland, built a splendid residence
on a gentle eminence in the present county of Meath, which he dedicat-
ed to his queen. Tea, and denominated the palace of Tea, or Tealtha.
It was also called Tara, and again Temora. This palace was enlarged
at several periods, and became, for unnumbered generations, the resi-
dence of the monarchs of Ireland. I shall have frequent occasion to
speak of Tara, and therefore reserve a particular description of this far-
famed palace of kings for a niore advanced stage of this narrative.
The government established by Heremon was a simple monarchy.
His reign, though short, was beset with difliculties. Although he pro-
vided for the sons of his fallen brother, by conferring on them tracts of

AKRIVAL OF THE TRIBE CALLED PICTS. 53

their father's territory, and otherwise actively employed himself in
establishing law and order, he did not escape the troubles of rebellion.
Some of his chieftains were the leaders of an unnatural revolt, which,
however, he suppressed. In addition to this, he was plagued with
the warlike incursion of a colony, called Picts, who came from one of
the Grecian islands of Thrace to seek a settlement in Ireland. They
were strangers to the Milesian tribes, and excited commotion on their
arrival ; for it was the custom, amongst the ancients, to look with sus-
picion on strange tribes — to refuse to mix or reside with them.

The Milesians — Chnna Mileag — that is, the children of Milesius
— were divided into four tribes, viz., those of Heber, Heremon, Ir, and
1th. They preserved their race pure, and made no alliance with
strange tribes, nor with tlie lower orders, or vassals of their own. They
formed four great families, who were descended from the same father.
'^ They preserved," says the Abbe M'Geoghegan, " their genealogies
carefully, and knew the whole line of their ancestors down to the chief
of their tribe. This precaution was essential in regard to the succes-
sion to the throne, because it was required that those who aspired to it
should be descended from one of the tribes." Each tribe possessed,
in the beginning, their own portion of the island, and each portion was
divided into lands and lordships, possessed by the different branches of
the tribe. Each tribe had vassals and farmers to cultivate their lands
and tend their flocks. Every one was called by his name. They
did not take the name of castles, or villages, like the nobles of the
present day, but usually added to their names that of their fathers, with
the adjective Mac, which signifies son, viz., Mac Mahon, the son of
Mahon. RoIIin says, the custom of the East was to add to the name
of the son that of the father. For instance, Sardanapalus is composed
of Sardan and Pal, which means Sardan son of Pal. This custom
was followed by the Greeks and Romans. In Muscovy, the same
practice is observed to this day. The Fitz, formerly made use of
among the Saxons, in England, meant the same thing. Fitzgevd\<\,
Fitzsxmonii, mean the son of Gerald, the son of Simons. The
present race of Thompso7W, Johnsons, Jacksows, &.c., are emanations
of the same idea.

Returning to the Picts, we find that the feelings of the Milesians
were strongly opposed to their settlement in Ireland. King Heremon
pointed out to them the opposite coast, now known as Scotland, which
was then either not peopled at all, or by very few indeed. The
Pictish adventurers agreed to go thither, but, being without women or

5.1 CALEDONIA A COLONV OF IRELAND.

children, ihey sought of King Heremon Uberty to obtain wives from
amongst his subjects ; and they agreed that the government of the new
settlement should be subject to the Irish monarch and his successors.
To attest the sincerity of their intentions, and to afford a guaranty for
the faithful observance of their engagements, they pledged themselves to
encourage the continuance of this connection by means of matrimonial
alliances, and that the children alone of Irish women should succeed to
the hereditary oflices connected with the government, religion, educa-
tion, or military system of the colony. To this stipulation the king
agreed, anrl from that period to the times of Columb Kille, in the sixth
century of the Christian era, this compact was faithfully adhered to on
both sides. Caledonia was a colony tributary to Ireland, and sent
deputations to the parliament of Tara. This alliance rendered Cale-
donia, in after ages, impregnable to the Roman arms, and enabled
that colony, by the aid of the Irish legions, to preserve its independ-
ence against all invasions, for better than two thousand years. The
colony was called Scoto, after the mother country, Ireland.* Ireland
was then, and for many subsequent ages, called Scotia Major, or the
Great Scotia, and the colony of Caledonia v.'as called Scotia Minor,
i. e., the Lesser Scotia. The alliance was formed and bound by the
ligaments of blood and interest: indeed, both people were one
family ; spoke the same language ; were governed by the same laws ;
fought for their mutual defence in the same legions ; cultivated the
same music ; practised tlie same religious ceremonies, customs, he, all
which shall be shown and sustained, with ample proof, in the course of
this narrative.

On the death of Heremon, after a reign of thirteen years, he was
succeeded by his three sons, who agreed to divide the duties of supreme
government between them ; each ruling, alternately, during one year.
In the progress of their government they were interrupted by the sons
of Heber, who, with their forces, overthrew the power of the sons of
Heremon. Various hostile struggles lor supreme government now
ensued between those rival houses, which were attended by much
bloodshed. Although the old historians go into lengthened detail of
those battles, I do not think that the peaceful spirit of the present age
calls for a very circumstantial account of such deplorable occurrences.
I shall therefore pass rapidly onward to that period of our history, when
these physical contests were partially abated by the establishment of the
triennial assemblies of Tara.

The princes who filled the throne of Ireland, from the death of
* The Milesian brothers denominated the island Scoto in honor of their mother
who had fallen in its conquest.

IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ISLAND. 55

Hevemon to the time of Ollamh Fodhla, were Muimhne, Luighne,
Laiskne, Irial, Eithrial, Conmaol, Tighcrmnas, Eochaidth, Cearman,
Eochaidth II., Fiachadth, Eochaidth III., Aongus, Eadhna, Rothe-
achta, Scadhna, Fiachadth II., Muincheamboin, and Aldergoid ; viz.,
nineteen kings during the space of about four hundred years.

In the course of these four hundred years, the island increased con-
siderably in its population, importance, foreign traffic, &;c. The forests
of oak, with which, we are informed, the whole face of the country
was originally covered, had been nearly all cut down. Agriculture had
progressed under the care of royal husbandmen. The Phoenicians,
from which people these settlers had directly emanated, were still
the leading nation of Europe and the East, and had kept up a con-
siderable traffic with the Milesians of Ireland. Rome had not yet
begun even an embryo existence ; and the islands of Hellas — i. e.,
the Greek islands — had only begun to emerge from the most un-
lettered barbarism. Although the Milesian princes battled among
themselves for political or supreme sway, as most of the ancients did,
yet art, science, literature, manufacture, &;c., progressed under them
with an expansive speed, which does not at all surprise us when we
recollect the degree of refinement and advancement their immediate
progenitors had maintained for many previous centuries.

During the reign of Tighemmas, (included in the nineteen kings,)
literature, arts, and agriculture, flourished. The old bards and his-
torians celebrate this monarch for having introduced the scale and
degrees of colors to be worn by the several orders of the people. By
him it was ordained that princes of the blood royal were to have seven
colors in their garments. The monarch was known by his mantle of
yellow and purple, for green had not yet become the national color.
The vesture of the Druids, ollamhs, bards, and artists, was variegated
by six dyes ; that of the nobility and knights by jioe ; of betachs, or
keepers of the houses of free hospitality, by four ; of commanders of
battalions, three ; of private gentlemen, two ; and of peasantry and
soldiers, one. The provisions of this regulation were observed for
many ages with the most rigid attention. The regulation had scrip-
tural authority to sustain it ; for it existed among the chosen of God.
We are told that " Jacob loved Joseph more than all, his children,
because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a coat of
many colors.^'' The national observance of this custom tended to induce
the cultivation of colors amongst the people. The authority of foreign
writers exists, which proves that the Irish carried the art of dyeing to

DRESS OF THE IRISH.

great perfection. Bishop Nicholson, a learned authority, tells us they
understood the composition of the celebrated Tyrian purple, which
was extracted from a small shell-fish found in abundance round the
Irish coast. Red, purple, and crimson, are frequently mentioned by
the old poets in their descriptions of the attire of their heroes. The
learned and accomplished English author, Colonel Vallancey, says, on
this head, " Though the garb of the ancient Irish was simple in its
fashion, yet the materials of which it was composed were of the most
costly quality. Their kings wore mantles of an immense size, gen-
erally nine ells, of yellow and purple silk, which were studded with
gems and precious stones. Their helmets, shields, and ensign staffs,
were of pure gold, as the country abounded with that precious metal."
The learned Dr. O'Conor also refers to that period in the following
passage: "The dress of the ancient Scots [Irish] was plain as their
manners. The fashion of their vesture was admirably adapted to the
manners of a martial nation, and it received very litde change through
all ages ; it helped to display action, and exhibited the actor in the
most advantageous manner ; it bears a perfect resemblance to the
costume of the ancient Greeks, [who must have fashioned after the
Phoenicians, their superiors in manufacture and art.] One piece of the
dress covered the legs ,and thighs of the wearer very closely. The
hraccon, or vest, was fastened v/ith golden clasps, and so conveniently
contrived as to cover the breast better than any modern garment, while
the close sleeves of a flowing mantle gave the soldier all the advantages
he could require in the use of arms. Over the whole they wore a
fallung, or wide cloak, which covered them from the sun and rain, in
time of inaction ; and in time of war it served them for a bed in the
field tents. I have seen a representation of these dresses in the
carving on the king of Connaught's tomb, [Feidlim O'Connor,] in the
abbey of Roscommon, and I am certain that the remains of this species
of dress are still preserved in the Highlands of Scotland."

These and other testimonies sustain us in believing the advanced de-
gree of maturity to which civilization, art, and manufacture, had arrived
at that period amongst the ancient Irish. In the reign of this prince,
also, were many mines of great value discovered and opened in Ireland.
Some goblets have been found in the bog of Allen, which were made
in the reign of Tighernmas, and their sculptured devices afford a proof
of the proficiency of the ancient Irish in the working of metals, &c.
Dr. Warner says, referring to this era in our history, that " gold and
silver must have been very plenty in this country in ancient times, as

AMBASSADOR SENT TO GREECE. 57

all the knights wore golden helmets, and chains, and shields of the
same precious metal." A bit of a bridle, of solid gold, of ten ounces,
which was found in digging some ground, was sent as a present to
Charles the First, by the Earl of Straftbrd. The same nobleman sent
also an ingot of silver to the royal mint, from the mines of Tipperary,
which weighed three hundred ounces, and a crown of gold was also
found, and many other evidences of ancient wealth and art. Heraldry
and heraldic orders had been introduced into the customs of the gentry
and chiefs, which were more generally observed by those classes in
subsequent times.

Another of the nineteen kings, viz., Eithrial, wrote the history of his
ancestors, from the great Phenius down to his own days. " According
to Colgan and Molloy," says Pepper, '' this work of our royal his-
torian existed in the archives of Tara, until St. Patrick, in the too
ardent glow of his Christian zeal, committed it to the flames, with very
many more of our antique works." O'Halloran says that King Eith-
rial sent an embassy to Greece, consisting of many learned men, at
the head of which was the Druid Abaris, who instructed the in-
habitants of the Hellas in many of the arts and sciences then familiar
to the Irish. Tiiis embassy proceeded to Egypt, to explore the rich
mines of knowledge existing there, and returned through the Phoenician
territories, carrying back to Ireland great additions to the national
science and knowledge. Diodorus, quoting Heccatacus, the Egyptian
writer, confirms this. See ••' Round Towers,", further on.

B. C. 9:20. We now come to the reign of Ollamh Fodhla. This
prince, memorable for the wise institutions which he founded in Ireland,
came to the throne of the Milesian kings after a bloody contest. He
was of the line of Ir: was crowned with the utmost grandeur as KinK
Eochaidh, which was his real name ; but, being a prince of profound
acquirements, and having been, before his elevation, one of the bardic
order, he assumed the name of Ollamh Fodhla, viz., Learned Doctor,
or Doctor of Ireland. His reign constitutes the most memorable
epoch in the annals of the ancient Milesians : he saw and deplored
the strife which continued to grow from the opposing and ambitious
impulses of rival chieftains ; he had witnessed the frequent acts of in-
justice practised by local petty chieftains on their vassals, and he had
the wisdom, as well as magnanimity, to propose a tribunal, before which
he, as well as all other men in the country, must bow — to which all
should be responsible. This tribunal consisted of ''the assembly of the
estates" which this great man proposed should meet every third year at
8

58 HALL OF TAKA. ORDEK OF TAKING SEATS.

the palace of Tara. It was composed of the provincial princes, nobles,
Druids, brehons, bards, artists, and workers in metals. This parliament
was assembled under the grandest order of ceremonies ; for the accom-
modation of the members, who consisted of a thousand persons, an
t'xtensive hall was erected, principall)^ of oak, the fronts of which were
supported by richly carved and ornamented pillars of the" same wood.
This national hall was five hundred feet long, sixty wide, and one
hundred high. It had fourteen principal entrances, many of which
opened into banqueting rooms, libraries, and courts of judgment. This
extensive erection of wood gave place, in the third century of the
Christian era, to a magnificent edifice of marble, raised by the pro-
found scholar and king, Cormac ; of which more in its place.

In this great assembly the utmost decoruni was observed ; each
member had his place presciibed ; his shield of arms was fixed over his
seat ; the princes of the royal Milesian blood had their seats next the
monarch ; the provincial kings had seats immediately around his
person. Ireland had been, at this time, divided into the provinces of
Leinster, Munster, Connaught, and Ulster, over each of which there
was a provincial king, or governor, who reigned both by election and
by blood. The monarch of Ireland was generally chosen by the voice
of the assembly from these four princes ; his power extended over all
Ireland, while theirs extended only over their respective districts. It
was the practice of the Irish kings to suggest or name, during their
lifetime, their successors in the monarchy, which nomination required
to be approved by the national assembly.

The members, sitting under their respective armorial shields and
standards, the provincial princes, and the monarch in the midst, must
have exhibited a splendid spectacle to a free and enthusiastic people.
When we consider, that this legislative body consisted of nearly one
thousand persons, and that the people, to whom they gave laws, did not
exceed two millions, we may then foim some idea of the democracy of
that assembly, and proudly contrast that feature with any modern
parliament or house of legislation in the world.

Business commenced in the parliament of Tara with great solemnity.
The Druids were occupied, for three days previous to its commence-
ment, in offering their mysterious sacrifices to the sun and moon. Those
ceremonies were performed in the view of thousands : there were
numerous trains of virgins, called vestals of the moon, who assisted at
the ceremonies, attired in white dresses richly adorned with gems and
precious stones. After these ceremonies had passed away, the mem-

RULES WHICH GOVEHNEO THE SHEANACHIES. 59

bers were called to their duties by a flourish of musical instruments.
Their first business was to call on the Sheanachics, or provincial
historians, to read their reports of all public occurrences, crime, or
oppression, from their respective districts. These Sheanachies were
selected from the most trustworthy : they had lands app)'opriated to
tiieir use, and were rendered perfectly independent of their prince.
They were expected to utter nothing that was not strictly correct. The
Sheanachie was liable to severe punishment, expulsion from, the legisla-
ture, and even death, if found guilty of the slightest deviation from truth.
The learned and celebrated Primate Usher says of this class of pubhc
officers, " The Brehon Fileas [Sheanachies] were commissioned to set
down in writing every remaikable transaction worth recording thai
happened in the kingdom, as well as in the neighboring states, agreeably
to the truth of the facts. And, lest any error or false insinuation should
creep in, or be introduced, they were bound, in the general convention, or
in the presence of the chief monarch and a select committee of the nobili-
ty and Druids, to produce their writings every three years, when, after a
diligent examination, and having expunged every fact, which appeared
either uncertain or of doubtful authority, from the record, none was pre-
served but that which was sanctioned by the votes of all, as worthy of
the great Psalter of Tara ; so culled because it was compiled in verse
to aid the memory, and to guard against corruptions and falsifications."

Each province sent its Sheanachie before the assembly, and that
which he reported, when undisputed, was committed to the great book
of Tara, called the Sheanachie More, or Great Antiquity ; otherwise
the Psalter of Tara. This chief record was carried on by the Mile-
sians, from the beginning of their power in Ireland, after the manner of
their ancestors, the Phoenicians, who kept their national history, from die
infancy of primeval time, in the record named Sanconiathon.

When all those reports were heard and recorded in the great book,
tlien was the assembly called upon to make suitable laws to repress
criine, to regulate the enterprise or stimulate the industry of the people.
Prominent amongst the ancient laws which emanated from Tara was
the celebrated law of hospitality. This provided for the mainte-
nance of public places of entertainment, at suitable distances from each
other, where the traveller was ever sure to find food and a home. Lib-
eral grants of land were made by the state, and by princes, for this
purpose. TbiC officer appointed to administer the national hospitality
was called the betagh, (that is, hospitaler,) and the lands he occupied
were called the hally betagh. He was enjoined to keep grazing in his
pastures six herds of cattle, each herd to number one hundred and

60 LAW OF HOSPITALITY.

twenty head, and to have seven ploughs continually working in his
fallows. He was to have food at all times prepared for those who
travelled, or were in want. There was no such thing known, for ages
upon ages, in Ireland, as a public inn, hotel, or other such establishment,
in which a charge was made for entertainment. This public custom
continued in Ireland many centuries, even long after its connection
with England ; at least through three fourths of the kingdom, which,
until the sixteenth century of the Christian era, had never submitted
to the English crown. There were eighteen hundred of those houses in
the province of Munster. In the reign of James the First, the Irish
attorney-general of that monarch, namely, Sh' John Davies, reported,
under his own hand, to his royal master, that, z'/t the single county of
Monahan, there then were ninety-six thousand acres ofbetagh lands ;
all of which were duly seized by his religious majesty, and divided, with
other similar lands, amongst his canting followers. When Ireland be-
came Christian, the lands which, in pagan times, were thus administered,
passed into the management of the Christian priestiiood. Hospitality
ever after appeared as the handmaid of Religion. The people imbibed
the social virtue as a tenet of their faith, and entwined it in the code of
their religious observances. It has descended to their children, and is
practised, even in their fall, as one of their most paramount duties.
The dwelling of the humblest peasant in Ireland, like that of the
proudest lord, bears testimony to the prevalence of this exalted virtue.
Every traveller who visits Ireland bears a hearty attestation to this.
Go into the poorest cottage at meal-time, — the board may be poorly
furnished, — the dish may consist of potatoes only, — whatever it is,
you are welcome to a share of it ; for hospitality is part of the na-
tional sentiment of Ireland ; and O, may that Christian, godlike vir-
tue never abandon the hearts of her children in exile, wheresoever
chance or persecution may drive them !

The next important law that emanated from Tara was the law of
gavel. This was a law which obliged the rich parent to divide, at his
death, all his property, share and share alike, amongst his children.
The jurist, the true poUtical economist, and the democrat, will acknowl-
edge this law to be amongst the very best that could be devised, to
subdivide masses of property amongst a people. They must ac-
knowledge it to be the very wisest of human devices for repressing the
growth of an aristocracy. To estimate truly the value of this law, we
should weigh it with its opposite, the law of primogeniture. That cele-
brated baron law was instituted in England by William the Conqueror,
hi the eleventh century, and transferred to Ireland after her complete

IRISH LAAV OF GAVEL. LAW OF PRIMOGENITURE. 6 1

connection with the British crown, in the sixteenth century. The law
of primogeniture, or entail, prohibits the owners of the chief estates in
Britain, or Ireland, from seUing any portion of them, dividing them
amongst children, or any way disposing of them, except by the aristoc-
racy-sustaining regulations which it prescribes. These compel the
parent, at his death, to bequeath the whole of his land estate to his next
male heir, to the manifest deprivation of the rights of his other children.

Every man can see, by this comparison, how well calculated was the
old Irish law of gavel for diffusing wealth, and distributing amongst the
people the social and political power which it always confers. Every
man, also, can estimate the aid which the law of primogeniture offers to
tyranny, by concentrating vast property in the hands of a few, by
giving that few unlimited power, which the few have never failed to
use to debauch the press, corrupt the legislature, demoralize public
sentiment, and oppress the people. If we would thoroughly understand
its nature, let us observe its action in Britain and Ireland. The whole
surface of those kingdoms is owned by about five thousand prime pro-
prietors in fee. The joint population of Britain and Ireland amounts to
some seven-and-lwenty millions, and these five thousand, with their
families, by their compact action and great wealth, contrive to fill the
two houses of parliament with themselves and their nominees. It has
been proved that the British house of commons contains four hundred
members, out of six hundred and fifty-eight, who are directly returned
to parliament by the landed interest. It is hardly necessary to add that
the British house of lords is made up nearly entirely of the landed
aristocracy ; and this faction have continued, and do continue, to rob the
people of both nations of twenty millions sterling per annum by their
corn tariff, and of forty millions sterhng per annum by their national
debt, which they borrowed to preserve their estates, and which they
compel the people to pay.

The law of primogeniture prevailed in the American states as long as
they were subject to the same British faction. On the establishment
of American independence, the British law of primogeniture was
abolished, and the Irish law of gavel was substituted. Up to the year
1800, the law of primogeniture lingered in Virginia and Kentucky ; but
at present there is not a remnant of that tyrannic law remaining in
existence throughout the entire Union.

Equalling the foregoing in importance, and springing from the same
source, was the trial of the twelve men, or, in other words, the
trial by jury. That was, and is, essentially an Irish law. Leland, who

62 ALFRED THE GREAT EDUCATED IN IRELAND,

though he was writincr, to screen the English Government, tells us,
in the preface to his History of Ireland, that among the old Brehon
laws of Ireland was one which referred all disputes about land to the
decision of twelve men. All personal disputes in those ages, under the
head of '•' offences against the person," were decided by wager of
battle, or personal combat. The law of the twelve men prevailed in
Ireland for many ages before the time of King Alfred. That truly great
prince and his brother were driven into exile by the Danes. They
were received in Ireland, and were educated in the collegti of Mayo,
where Alfred not only acquired a thorough knowledge of the whole
system of Irish jurisprudence, but learned also to play well on the Irish
harp, which proved of the utmost service to him in his celebrated con-
flicts with the Danes. It is related of that great prince, that he entered
the Danish quarters disguised as a wandering harper, and played so
admirably on the instrument, that he obtained their confidence, and
made himself acquainted with all their plans, which knowledge he
communicated to his countrymen, who were thereby inspired to make
that vigorous effort which freed his country, during his life, from the
Danish yoke.

The whole superstructure of Irish law was transferred by Alfred to
England, including the law of gavel, the trial of the twelve men, the
chief court of judgment. The great boolc of maxims, commonly called
the Doomsday Boole, which still remains in the archives of Oxford,
was modeled after the Psalter of Tara. The only merit due to
King Alfred, in reference to the trial by jury, is, he extended the Irish
law of the twelve men to all questions relating to the person, as well
as to property. I may add here that, when Alfred was firmly estab-
lished on the throne of his fathers, he brought over Irish preceptors, and,
amongst others, the celebrated iJn'^ma, under whose management he
founded the university of Oxford — that Oxford which has, in latter years,
so frequently poured out its hireling venom on Ireland and Irishmen.

Tile office of the Sheanachie comprehended other duties than the
recording of public occurrences. The Sheanachie was a petty judge in
his district, and decided on matters of secondary importance. Thii.
officer is still continued in the British and American constitution, in the
person of the recorder. The duties performed at present by tht
recorders of London, Dublin, and New York, are not very dissimilar to
tliose performed by the ancient Sheanachics of Ireland. The great
book of antiquity kept at Tara, called the Sheanachie More, was a rec-
ord of all the maxims of law and government, which had grown from

CHIEF COURT OF TARA. 63

the experience of ages. It was, in fact, the code of common law, the
maxims of which had grown into proverbs, and were turned by the
bards into verse, the better to fasten them in the memories of the
people.

The estates of Tara instituted a chief court, before which all ap-
peals, disputes, and complaints, from every part of the kingdom, were
brought for final adjudication. The most careless observer will
recognize, in that ancient Irish tribunal, the origin of the present Courts
of Chancery of England and Ireland, and the Supreme Court of the
United States. In the first session of the assembly of Tara, it was
established, says the Abbe M'Geoghegan, as a fundamental law of the
land, that, every three years, the king, nobility, and principal men in
the kingdom, should, under certain penalties, repair in person, or, in
case of sickness or any other obstacle, send proxies to Tara at the
time fixed, there to deliberate on the necessities of the state, to establish
laws, and confirm or change the old ones, as the general welfare might
require. It was afterwards decreed by the assembly that each lord
should maintain, at his own expense, a judge and historian, to whom he
should assign a portion of land sufficient for the maintenance of their
family, so that, free from all domestic embarrassments, they might
devote their time exclusively to their employment. The business of
the historian, who was a sort of notary, was to preserve, in writing, a
record of their genealogies, alliances, and noble actions, which was pre-
sented, every three years, to the national assembly, to undergo the
criticism of a committee of nine, viz., three princes, three Druids, and
three historians : an abstract of these things, to give them validity, was
registered in the Psalter of Tara. This custom of examining the
annals of private families, and enrolling them in the Psalter of Tara,
lasted, without interruption, till the twelfth century of the Christian era,
and without any change, except that, when the pagan j)riesthood was
abolished by the preaching of the gospel, in the fifth century, the three
Druids were replaced by three bishops. So, when St. Patrick assist-
ed as judge, with other bishops, at one of those assemblies, he had all
the ancient books of the Milesians brought before him, and, having
examined them all very carefully, he approved of the Psalter of Tara,
with several other histories, written long before his time, and at the
same time condemned and burnt one hundred and eighty volumes of
the bardic compositions.

Besides the public offices created in the assembly of Tara, every
lord or chief had a physician, poet, and musician, to each of whom he

64 ORIGIN OF CORPORATIONS.

assigned a certain portion of land. These lands, like those of the judges
and historians, were considered sacred, and were exempt from all taxes
and impositions, even in time of war, like those of the Dmid priests of
Egypt — a convincing proof of the taste of the Milesians for the
politer arts in those remote times. Wise laws were also enacted to
maintain the public peace. All violence against members of the
assembly, during the session, was prohibited under pain of death. The
same sentence was pronounced against those guilty of murder, violation,
and robbery, without the monarch having the power to pardon.
Copies of these ordinances were distributed amongst all the private
judges in the kingdom, to serve as rales in the administration of
justice.

A celebrated regulation was instituted for mechanics. They ap-
pointed sixty of each trade in every district to inspect and govern the
others. No one was allowed to work at any trade without having been
approved of by these commissioners, who were called, in the language
of the country, " Jollamuidh," which signifies expert in their art or
profession. Such was the first organization of bodies of trades and
mechanics in Ireland ; and such was the origin of corporations, first
instituted for the management of trades, and subsequently for the man-
agement of town and city affairs. The English are indebted to Ireland
for their corporate institutions, but have not the honesty to admit it : on
the contrary, they would rather acknowledge themselves indebted for
these institutions to the Romans, their conquerors, than to the Irish,
their ancient allies. But justice will be done to ancient Ireland, never-
theless, by the enlightened opinion of mankind. Ireland was familiar
with those laws and institutions ere Carthage or Rome had yet been
cities, ere Greece was honored by Solon and Lycurgus ; three
centuries before Rome received from the Athenians the laws of the
twelve tables. I extract entire from the Abbe M'Geoghegan the
following gratifying paragraph : —

" About the time of our Saviour the learned in the jurisprudence of
the country began to make collections of the laws, and to commit them
to Vvriting, several of which are mentioned by their historians. In the
time of Conquovar, king of Ulster, who began to reign some years
before the Christian era, Forchern and Neid-IMac-Aidnha, two cele-
brated poets, composed a dialogue on the laws. The same, with
Athirne, chief poet of Conquovar, were the authors of the axioms of
the laws, called ' judicia coslestia,' [celestial judgments,] as the axioms
of the sages of Greece were called ' dicta sapientium.' Fearadach,

COMMENTATORS ON AND COMPILERS OF IRISH LAWS. 65

the monarch, and Moran, his judge, were celebrated for their justice and
their writings on the laws. Modain-Mac-Tolbain, judge under Con-
stantine, surnamed Keadcaha, made a collection of laws, called 'Meill-
breatha.' Fiothall, or Fithic Fiorgothia, one of the legislators at Tara,
under Cormac, surnamed Ulfada, has left a treatise upon laws entitled
' Fiondsuith.' King Cormac and Cairbre, his son. made a code of laws,
called * Dula,' which was divided into three parts, and contained regula-
tions on various matters.

" All those works on law, with many othei-s of the same nature,
were collected in the eighth century, and formed into one body of laws,
by three brothers, Faranan, Boethgal, and Moeltul, the first of whom
was a bishop, the second a judge, and the third a poet and antiquarian.
This collection was called ' Brathaneimhadh,' signifying ' sacred judg-
ments.' The matter it contained is briefly explained in the following
Irish lines : —

' Eagluis, flatha Agus filidh
Breitheamh Dliios gacbdligh,
Na bruigh fo aibh dar linn,
Na saor agus na gablian ; '

which are thus translated into Ijatin by Gratianus Lucius : —

' Quid sit jus cleri, satrapEe, vatisque, fabrique,
Nee non agricoliE, liber iste docebit abunde ;'

and into English for the information of all : —

Priests, bards, and poets,
Judges, human and divine,
That never oppressed, in our time,
Trades, ails, or science.

" Gratianus Lucius mentions his having seen several larsje volumes
on Irish laws, written m large characters on parchment —

" ' I myself have seen many thick volumes of Irish laws, written on
parchment, and among them the text written in large characters, having
the lines moderately separated, for the more easy interpretation of the
words compressed in smaller letters. We see more copious comments
introduced in the page, having the text the same as in books of
laws.'"*

[These Irish laws were adopted by Alfred and Edward the Confessor,
kings of England, who formed the Doomsday Book. Lyttleton was the

* Several vols, of Brehon laws, in the Irish character, are now in Trinity College.

6Q HERALDRY OF VARIOUS NATIONS.

first Englishman who wrote a small work on the laws, which formed texts
for Coke and others, who followed and enlarged.] Ollamh Fodhla,
having a pure taste for literature, gave every encouragement to the bards
and historians : he founded several public places of instruction, and a
chief one near his own palace of Tara, where the higher mysteries of
the Druids and the superior branches of knowledge were taught ; he also
wrote with his own hand a history of the Milesians in Ireland, from
their first landing down to the period of his reign, which he prefaced
by an account of their ancestors, the Phoenicians, tracing their pedi-
gree back almost to the flood. This work was submitted by him to
the estates of Tara, received, and adopted, as the beginning of theii'
national journal, the Psalter of Tara : several copies were made of
that great book, and were kept in the capitals of the provinces, which
gave rise to the Psalter of Cashell, the Psalter of Ardmagh, of
Glendelagh, Tuam, &;c., and several othei-s, which were regularly con-
tinued transcripts of the great national journal ke})t in Tara.

This prince, during a reign which extended to forty years, regulated
the laws and customs of heraldry. Previous to his time, the Milesians
did not observe very exactly any particular order ; they had a banner,
bearing, as an escutcheon, a dead serpent and a wand, in memory of the
cure of Gaodhal by Moses. The Milesian genealogists traced their
connection to Gaodhal, and therefrom assumed as their distinguishing
emblem the dead serpent and wand. King Ollamh Fodhla, however,
instituted symbols and ensigns for all his chiefs, which symbols were
affixed to their seats in the hall of legislation, to prevent all jealousy
and confusion. The Milesians, according to Keating, evinced a strong
partiality for heraldic distinctions. Our early annalists, says he, inform
us that Hector, the Trojan hero, bore sable two lions combatant ;
Osiris, the Egyptian, bore a sceptre-royal, ensigned on the top with ao
eye ; Hercules, the Phoenician, bore a lion rampant holding a battle-
axe ; the arms of the kingdom of Macedon were a wolf; the Scythians,
who remained in the country, and made no conquests abroad, assumed
a thunderbolt ; the Egyptians bore an ox ; the Phrygians, a swine ;
the Thracians painted the god Mars upon their banners ; the Romans,
an easle ; and the Persians, bows and arrows. Homer relates that the
shield of Achilles had several curious devices raised on it ; Alexander the
Great bore a lion rampant, and ordered his soldiers to display the same
upon their shields ; Augustus Csesar bore the image of Alexander the
Great ; the Phoenicians, being a commercial nation, assumed the prow
of a ship. The author of the Leabhar Leatha says the twelve tribes

ARMS OF IRELAND. 67

of Israel bore each different symbols, to distinguish them in their march
through the desert. Dr. Warner says there was no nation where
heraldic distinctions were more strictly regulated than in Ireland.
When a chieftain distinguished himself against the enemy, his name
and exploit were immediately entered into the records of his house, to
be transmitted down from father to son, and by that means to inspire
the several branches of the family with an emulation to imitate such a
great example.

The harp was the earliest national symbol of the Firbolgs, or
first inhabitants. When Heber and Heremon divided the kingdom
between them, they differed about a musician and poet ; but the matter
was settled in a friendly manner by Ambergin, their brother, who ad-
judged the musician to Heber, and the poet to Heremon ; the brothers
then assumed the harj) as an emblem of the harmony that prevailed
between them. The yellow banner, emblazoned with the dead serpent
and the rod of Moses, was borne by the standard-bearer of Roderick
O'Connor, king of Connaught, when that monarch had an interview
with Henry the Second of England. Brian Borohme bore on his
standard, at Clontarf, the sun bursting through a cloud. It may be
that I shall enter more fully on the subject of Irish heraldry in the
progress of this work, if I think it will not swell the volume to an
inconvenient bulk. I pass on from the topic, merely observing that
the whole system and stiperstructure of English and French heraldry
have been modeled after the old orders and creations of Tara. These
heraldic laws and symbols were introduced into Gaul, (France,) and
into Europe generally, by the celebrated Charlemagne, on the reestab-
lisliment of civilization, in the eighth century. It is distinctly recorded
of that distinguished king and scholar, that he brought from Ireland
several learned men, under whose direction he founded universities in
various parts of his dominions. Amongst these learned Irishmen
were Claude Clement and John Scott, who were installed by Charle-
magne professors over the universities of Pavia and Paris.

The palace and the assemblies of Tara were adorned by the beauty
of the land. Modern belles and beaux imagine that in ancient times
the human face bore no traces or lineaments of heaven's divine
creation. They firmly believe, indeed, that, before the discovery of
certain soaps, loashes, and composites, the cheek of woman threw out
no lovely glow, and her eye no kindling ray ; that men were a sort of
wild animals, with bushy hair and ferocious aspects, and, of course,
insensible to the more refined influence of the superior sex. Such

CS ladies' assemblies in tara.

sapient thinkers should be reminded that the gorgeous sun shone in the
heavens three thousand years ago as brightly as it does now ; that the
moon glided then through her silvery path with the same regularity
and bewitching brightness she does at present; that the firmament
was studded with the same bright stars we now look uj>on with so
much rapture ; that Nature, through her successive seasons, put forth
her changing beauties with the same pleasing variety, in endless
continuation, breathing through rich foliage her balmy incense, filling the
flowers with vivifying perfume, prompting millions of winged choris-
ters to chirp the same light and happy strains which we see, and feel,
and hear, at this day ; that Nature was the same throughout all time,
under the rule of one great God ; and man has ever been subject to
the same natural laws.

'Every account of the transactions of Tara, which the old historians
have left us, bears ample evidence of the grandeur of their various
ceremonies, whether of business or pleasure, the magnificence of their
festivals, the innocence, and, at the same time, utiHty of their sports
and amusements. To the ladies present on all or any of these occa-
sions, the utmost deference v/as paid : a special palace was appropriated
to their use, which was called Griannan na Ninghean, or the Council
of the Ladies. This council had delegated to it power to regulate all
things appertaining to woman. In such an assembly, we may readily
imagine, music held a prominent consideration. Such was the case.
The oldest and most polished instrument of the Milesians, the harp,
was the favorite instrument of the refined then, as it now is, boxed
though it be in the case of a piano-forte, and struck by leathern
hammers instead of fairy fingers. The " harps of Tara " have long
been the theme of the bard and poet. Moore, the sweetest bard of
modern times, — of whom Erin may well be proud, — has linked the
" harp of Tara " with immortal verse.

MUSIC AND POETRY.

COME, RAISE A CHEER FOR ERIN!

WORDS BY T. MOONEY.

Written on the Mississippi, ichile on my Western Repeal Mission in 1841-2, and 'pub-
lished in the Dublin Pilot, in one of a series of letters, addressed by me to that
paper, under the title of '■'■ American Correspondence.'^ T. M.

-1^ ^C

1. Come, raise

— b— -4

a cheer for E

rin ! Her

f=g:

^-W

rz:±-

-s

sun a - gain will shine out bright ! Come,

Se^eSS

-p p-
raise a shout for E - rin ! She'll soon e- merge from

:trT

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-r-^tf-^ -*

slavery's night.

e££

Come,

®±=

^^¥=i

MUSIC AND POETRY.

_ r r Pn

raise the toast to E - rin ! Tho' wa - ter sparkle

— b -

-^ — ^-

'~T_

3=?-

in the bowl, I'll drink thy health, dear E - rin ; Thy

@-fc

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:^i^

— I — a — ^**, —

^ ^ -»• k^iii^ p ^

burn - ing flame still lights my soul !

"rrri —
3D=

9 0

~r r

-5-:^:

T-

~=^

There was a time when, Erin,

You gave the haughty Briton laws ; *
There was a time when, Erin,

Your children won the world's applause !
And the time again is nearing,

When Freedom's sword we'll bravely draw,
To guard your soil, dear Erin,

And give your people their own law.

See the foregoing section, under the head of " Trial by Jury."

MUSIC AND POETKY. 71

Then rouse your heart, dear Erin,

And sound your voice from shore to shore!
Demand your rights, brave Erin,

And your parliament they'll soon restore ;
And lift on high your streaming

Green banner, as in days gone by.
The nations aid you, Erin !

And Heaven smiles a cheer fiom high !

There are three other sets of words to this beautiful old Irish air, viz. : " Maurian
a, Gibberlaun,"' an old Irish composition ; " The rose-tree full in bearing ; " and " I'd
mourn the hopes that leave rtie," by Moore. The latter I append, because it was
addressed by the author to his wife.

I'D MOURN THE HOPES THAT LEAVE ME.

1.
I'd mourn the hopes that leave me,

If thy smiles had left me too ;
I'd weep when friends deceive me,

Hadst thou been, like them, untrue.
But while I've thee before me.

With heart so warm, and eyes so bright,
No clouds can linger o'er me ;

That smile turns them all to light.

'Tis not in fate to harm me,

While fate leaves thy love to me ;
'Tis not in joy to charm me,

Unless joy be shared with thee :
One minute's dream about thee.

Were worth a long, and endlq^s year
Of waking bliss without thee.

My own love, my only dear!

And though the hope be gone, love,
That long sparkled o'er our way,

MUSIC AND POETRY.

O ! we shall journey on, love,
More safely without its ray.

Far better lights shall win me,

Along the path I've yet to roam, —

The mind that burns within me,

And pure smiles from thee at home.

Thus, when the lamp, that lighted

The traveller, at first goes out.
He feels awhile benighted, •

And looks round In fear and doubt ;
But soon, the prospect clearing.

By cloudless starlight on he treads.
And thinks no lamp so cheering

As that liiiht which heaven sheds I

SHAVOURNEEN DHEELISH.

[my beautiful young ELLE.N DEAR.]

BV LADY MOKCAIT.
Rather Sr^ow, with Expiikssion.

^i^nziE

1. O! the

^"^

-w car

- ment was sad, when my

love and I part - ed ! Sha - vour - neen Dheel - ish

.MUSIC AND POETRY.

S-'=

1 ^ — 1^

Ei - leen Ogge; As I kissed off her tears, I was

-fP-

'» r_Tzzir

1 r

l-JJ'

333^L=ji^:Eg^3^gis_^-j

niiih broken - heart - ed ; Sha - - vour - neen Dheel - ish

Ei - - leen Ogge.

Wan was her cheek, which

la:

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rizci

iiE

"I — I — ri"

"jg s^r

isi

E_rz=s:

zzfizw:

:^=p:

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hung on my shoul - der ; Damp was her hand — no

-J-T ^—

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mar - ble was cold - er ; I felt in my heart I ne'er

^ -ftf

MUSIC AND POETRY.

Long I fought for my country, far, far from my true love,
Shavourneen Dheelish Eileen Ogge ;

All my pay and my booty I hoarded for you, love,
Shavourneen Dheelish Eileen Ogge ;

Peace was proclaimed ; escaped from the slaughter,

Landed at home, my sweet girl soon I sought her ;

But sorrow, alas ! to the cold grave had brought her,
Shavourneen Dheelish Eileen Ogge.

MUSIC.

CAROLAN'S FAREWELL TO MUSIC.

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HUMORS OF MULLINAFAWNA

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-'Sf

LECTURE IV.

THE IRISH LANGUAGE.
SECTION I.

The Irish Language. — Attempts to suppress it. — Professor of the Irish Language
appointed by the Dubhn University. — The oldest Manuscripts in Europe in the
Irish Language. — Irish Dictionaries. — Ancient Writers on the Language. —
Etruscan, Celtic, and Irish Language identical. — Sir William Betham's Opinion
thereon. — Much of the Latin derived from the Irish. — Criterion to judge. —
Refinement of the Phojnicio-Etruscans. — Ancient Irish Alphabet. — Compared
with the Egyptio-Irish Ogham. — Five of the Zodiacal Signs are Letters of the
Irish Alphabet. — Gave to Perry, of the Morning Chronicle, the Idea of Short
Hand Writing. — Moore's Opinion on the Language. — Fidelity of the Irish to
their Letters^ and Language. — Irish Alphabet printed by Order of Bonaparte.
— Ireland the School of the Saxons. — Mother' Tongues of Europe. — Alpha-
bets now in Use in the World. — Suggestions for restoring the Language. — Its
musical Properties. — Ancient Irish and Egyptians the same Family. — Origin
of the prefixes 0 and Mac. — Meaning of the Term Celt. — Languages liable
to alter in Pronunciation and in Spelling. — Efforts of the British to root the
Language out of Scotland and Wales. — Estimate of the Numbers who still
speak the Irish Language in Wales and Scotland. — Like Estimate for Ire-
land.— Like Estimate of those Exiles who speak it. — Efforts lately made to
revive it. — Irish Language the Key to most others. — Efforts of the learned
Men of Ireland to restore it. — Suggestions to Parents in this Country. — Irish
History and Language not taught in this Country. — Appeal to wealthy Irish-
men on this Continent to revive it.

Having introduced to the reader the principal settlers of ancient Ire-
land, and traced their origin, migration, settlement, government, laws,
&c., downwards for ahout five hundred years, I will now treat of their
language, historians, architecture, bards, poets, music, &c. ; after which,
in ray fifth lecture, I will resume the historic narrative.

In offering a few words on the Irish language, I confess, with humility,
my inability to do even limited justice to a question so profound. I
cannot even devote space to the opinions of others. The " Irish lan-
guage," as a topic, would require an entire volume to elucidate ; and
yet, even though I had the ability to compile such a work, and the

ATTEMPTS TO SUPPRESS THE IRISH LANGUAGE. 77

capital to bring it through the press, where, in this country, should 1 find
purchasers in sufficient numbers to cover the expense? The Irish
language had been, in the course of the last three centuries, driven
from the schools and universities of Ireland by the tyrant policy of Britain.
Acts of parliament, queenly and kingly proclamations, penalties, and
every species of persecution, were called up to suppress its use in
Ireland, and in Ireland's ancient colony of Caledonia. It was pro-
claimed down at court, discountenanced by the affluent, discouraged by
the patrons of literature, suppressed totally in the English and Irish
schools and colleges. My father told me that he, when at school, has
had a wooden gag put into his mouth by his teacher, as a punishment
for having spoken occasional words of the Irish language during school
time. It is really wonderful how a language, so hunted from school
and cabin by the severest kind of persecution, did yet survive ; and still
more wonderful is it to see the descendants of those, who made war
upon that language, now exerting themselves to reestablish it in those
very universities from which they formerly hunted it with such senseless
barbarity !

In the university of Dublin, called Trinity College, a professor
of the Irish language was appointed in the year 1841. On this head,
Sir William Betham, in his very able work, from which I have quoted
so largely, has the following : —

" Until last year the university of Dublin had no professor of
Irish ! A reverend and learned gentleman has been recendy appointed.
It is said he speaks the vernacular Irish fluently. Let us hope that, by
his means, the most ancient written living language in Europe may
take its just place in the estimation of the learned, and escape from the
undeserved and illiberal criticism of those who, while they condemn,
acknowledge their incapacity to judge, and virtually the injustice of their
judgment. It has long been a reproach to the Irish university, that,
possessing the most ancient and valuable Irish manuscripts in their libra-
ry, they had no one competent to explain their contents. They have
long had professors of the Oriental languages, and even writers on
Ethiopic and Sanscrit ; but, till now, no professor of Irish. Not one
of the fellows has ever been induced to make himself acquainted with
the Iberno- Celtic, [the Irish,] which may justly contend with the most
ancient language of the East for precedence in antiquity.

" A more just consideration of the claims of the old tongue of
Ireland, it is to be hoped, will now be accorded ; and it will not be
despised because it is not understood. It will, I trust, be examined by

78 IRISH DICTIONARIES.

a scholar, a man of liberal education and enlightened mind ; one who
will commence, perhaps, in some measure influenced by the prejudices
of education, but who, duly weighing every point of evidence, will
accord due weight to each. Such a man will discover in the Irish
language a mine of philological wealth ; a guide which will explain
most of the difficulties which have hitherto so much obscured the
history of the ancient people and languages of Europe."

" It is a singular fact, not generally known," continues Sir William,
"that the most anciext European manuscripts now existing
ARE IN THE Irish LANGUAGE, and that the most ancient Latin manvr
scripts in Europe were ivritten by Irishmen. I have in my own
library manuscripts unintelligible to common Irish scholars. The
present Irish vernacular has a very limited vocabulary ; only so much
as is necessary for the purposes of rural life, and the wants of the
peasant. Nine tenths of the language have become obsolete, and
only to be found in ancient glossaries and manuscripts. Fortunately,
the labors of a few scholars, within the last two centuries, have collected
the ancient words into the form of a dictionary : among these the late
Mr. William Halliday, the compiler of the best Irish grammar, deserves
honorable mention. By his premature death, Irish literature sustained a
heavy loss. That learned and talented individual collected materials
on the basis of Shaw's Gaelic Dictionary, which the late Edward
O'Reilly added to and published. Four fifths of the words contained in
this work are now obsolete and unintelligible to the Scottish Highlander
and the speakers of Irish of the present day. Much of the Gaelic,
in tlie translations which I have given of the Etruscan and Eugubian
Tables, is certainly obsolete and unintelligible to the Scottish Gael, and
to those who merely speak the modern Irish. The Scots, having no
ancient manuscripts, know nothing of their tongue beyond what is
acquired orally, which is limited and meagre when compared with the
old language.

" It has been said that the modern Gaelic has no terms of art or
science. This is to be attributed to their having been lost by non-
usage ; for the ancient Irish possesses all the terms of art or science
known at the time it was colloquial. The present Irish vernacular
has not now in use one fifth of the words to be found in the ancient
glossaries, [dictionaries ;] it is, therefore, not a matter of surprise that
these works are not understood by those who speak the limited and
corrupted vocabulary of the present day, and who are, also, for the
most part, illiterate. To many of those who read and write the

ANCIENT WRITERS ON THE LANGUAGE. 79

modern language, ancient manuscripts are unintelligible, and even to
those who pretend to translate them. It is in the ancient manuscripts
that the old Celtic language is presented in its purity. Glossaries
of the Irish Gaelic exist in manuscript, written some centuries since,
explaining words even at that time obsolete. At the same time, it
must be observed that much of the Gaelic, which I have placed in juxta-
position with the Etruscan, is intelligible even to the vernacular Irish-
man or Scottish Highlander. The similarity, the almost identity, is
remarlcahle ; there are very few variations even of a letter.

" The most celebrated of the ancient Irish glossaries [dictionaries]
is that ascribed to Cormac, bishop of Cashel, who lived about A. D.
901. There are two or three copies of this work in Trinity College,
Dublin. A copy of this glossary, made for General Vallancey, by
Peter Connell, who was a good ancient Irish scholar, with many
glosses and additional explanations, I have had copied and collated,
with many others, and translated all the explanations into English. I
have had copies made of O'Clery's and many other glossaries, and
believe I possess copies of the best, if not of all, that are extant.
In addition to which, I have interleaved dictionaries with many thou-
sand words added from the books of Ballymote and Lecan, and the
Leabhar Brean, Brehon laws, and other ancient manuscripts, glossed
and explained by interlineations, especially those of the ancient laws.
The language of the Eugubian Tables, being so ancient, may be con-
sidered as the inchoate, primitive, monosyllabic roots, from which the
more modern compound language may be ascertained by analysis, and,
being understood, will assist greatly in determining the sources of
many other modern tongues. * * *

" The essence of the languages of the Etruscans and Celts may
fairly be considered identical. At the same time, no one could flatter
himself that a translation of such difficulty could be made perfect by a
first effort. I commenced the study of the Irish language late in life,
and would willingly have foregone the laborious exertion, could I
have been fortunate enough to have met with an Irish scholar capable
and willing to have done justice to the subject which so much interested
my thoughts. If, in early life, I had been acquainted with the lan-
guage, the task might have been accomplished with less labor, and
perhaps more perfectly."

Sir William then goes into a lengthened critical analysis of the
Irish language, tracing its letters and sounds to the most remote an-
tiquity. " It is," he says, "•' the most ancient living language ; more

80 CELTIC AND IRISH LANGUAGES IDENTICAL.

ancient than the Greek itself." He proves, as I have in another
place quoted him, that the language spoken throughout the Phoenician
empire was that which we now call Irish. It was the language of
Tyre, of Carthage, of the refined and learned inhabitants of Italy, ages
before " Rome " was dreamed of. Moreover, it is a twin dialect to the
Syriac, the language which the Redeemer used while on earth. Italy
was the first great colony of the Phoenicians which improved on the
state of civilization, derived from their Tyrian ancestors, even more
than Carthage. On this head ray learned authority says, "When we
assert that the roots of many words in the Greek and Latin are to be
found in the Irish language, it may excite surprise in the minds of
some ; but if we are able to show that the Irish language is the same
as that spoken by the people who occupied Italy and the countries bor-
dering on the Mediterranean, the absurdity vanishes, and the fact ceases
to surprise. A man will laugh in your face if you assert that the Latin
is mostly derived from the Irish ; but if y^u are able to show that the
Etruscan inhabitants of Italy spoke the same or a kindred language,
if he be not convinced, his sarcasm and ridicule will certainly be de-
prived of all its point." The very learned and able Dr. O'Brien,
the compiler of the first published Irish dictionary, in his preface to that
work, gives a long list of words in the Irish, having a strong affinity
with the Latin and Greek, " which," he says, "should, I presume, be
esteemed a strong proof that the Lingua Prisca [first language] of
the aborigines of Italy, from which the Latin of the twelve tables, and
afterwards the Roman language, was derived, could be nothing else but
a dialect of the original Celtic — a dialect, indeed, which, in process of
time, received some mixture of Greek, especially the ^olic, from the
colonies, or rather adventurers, which anciently came to Italy from
Peloponnesus, agreeably to the saying of Dionysius Halicarnassus. The
language used by the Romans is neither absolutely barbarous, or Greek,
but a mixture of both : in many respects it is similar to the ^olic
lanffuase."

" And at the same time," continues Dr. O'Brien, " to show that
the Iberno-Celtic did not borrow from the Latin any of those words in
which both languages agree, 1 shall only lay down, on the part of the
Irish, those which are expressive of ideas which no language can want
words for, even in its most incult state, and are, at the same time, the
only words in common use, in that language, to signify, precisely and
properly, the things they are appropriated to — two characteristics which
plainly demonstrate that they are not derivatives of any other language,

THE ETRUSCAN AND THE IRISH IDENTICAL. 81

but rather genuine original words of the Cehic tongue, from which cir-
cumstances, joined to the plain marks of derivation with lohich the
corresponding Latin ivords are stamped, it will evidently appear that
the Latin ivords are derivations of the Celtic, from which the old
Latin, refined by the Romans, had been formed." Again, " Now, it is to
be noted, that, inasmuch as it is allowed by the best etymologists, that,
of radical words of the same sense in different languages, those should
be esteemed the more ancient that consist of fewest letters, and that, of
words agreeing only in part, those which have the additional letters or
syllables are, for the most part, derivations, — it follows that the Iberno-
Celtic, being chiefly monosyllabic, should be esteemed the radical and
ancient words. The Latin words, agreeing in sense with the Irish mono-
syllables, are generally of two or more syllables." Dionysius Halicar-
nassus, who wrote a short time previous to the birth of Christ,
says, the Etruscans had their own language, rites, manners, and laws,
which were original and independent. Referring to their inscriptions on
the Eugubian Tables, Sir William Betham remarks, " That the sixth and
seventh tables, written in the Roman character, were examined by their
framers with great care before they were placed where they were found,
appears, from certain erasures and insertions, by ivay of correction of
errors committed by the engraver, exhibiting a great desire for accuracy,
as well as demonstrating that the language was then governed by rules
of orthography and grammar — a most significant test of a high state of
civilization and progress in literature, the result of a long period of
enjoyment, of repose, and political security, and the development of
the highest exertions of the human intellect. The works of mind of
this wonderful people, in the various departments of literature, science,
sculpture, painting, commerce, architecture, mining, navigation, astrono-
my, and, in short, every other art and token of civilization, fill the mind
with astonishment ; all having germinated and been brought to light
principally by themselves, and from them communicated to the rest of
the world, and, as has been elegantly expressed by Professor Haron, the
gentle attrition of commerce thus lighted up the flame of civilization."

There is no doubt but the Etruscan lanffuage and character so
referred to, as the twin dialect of the Irish, are directly traceable to the
era of symbolic writing, when ideas were represented by figures of men,
beasts, trees, birds, fishes, weapons, &c. ; when, as I have before noted,
writers abbreviated those signs, marking only the legs of the man, the
tail or horns of the beast, branches of the tree, feathers of the bird, or
portions of the fish or weapons, and so formed an alphabet. The Per-
11

82 SYMBOLIC WRITING.

sians marked their ideas by the signs of arrows in various positions, and
the ancient Chinese, by knots on cords.

I give, in a wood cut, a specimen of the most ancient writing of the
Egyptians, which, when compared with the old Irish letters placed in the
same diagram, will be found to exhibit a very close relationship. It will
be seen there is no great difference in the construction of the letters of
both nations, not greater than might exist between the writings of any
two men we should select promiscuously.

Inscription on the Ohelisk of Heliopolis. \ js.

Translation by Champollion: — "Pharaoh; sun offered to the
WORLD ; lord of Upper and Lower Egypt ; the living of men ; son of
the sun ; Osortasen," &c.

The following are terms used in an ancient Irish music book, ex-
planatory of musical notes : — Given in Walker's Bards.

CVieot^i , Long Sound.

^eals OIKp ^. /^TS Long or Short Sounds.

C^lti' ^ Long Sound.

Long Sound.

Long or Short Sounds.

0%"^

■p^-t/; YWo/"^ Long

or Short Sounds.

SYMBOLIC WRITING. 83

Here are specimens of the Irish Ogham, or secret characters, used
by the Druids, and continued among the learned down to the last
generation. M'Curtain wrote, in 1760, that he knew of two-and-
thirty separate oghams which then existed in the county of Clare. Let-
ters of the alphabet are placed over or under each sign, to give the
reader an idea of their import.

Simple Ogham.

I.II.IIUIII.IIil!. m.i.n^.y. f^„

, I III- 1 1 1 .

^.^.J£. £. n.

a,.c.u e. A^ M. .01.

— -I'l Mi i-i:ii-M I !!•

Complex Ogham.

^-^ -tF fc\j S

^b/t T^p ccl^.

r\ ^ r t ^ ^^ ^- j^ ex bis

v^ lA^tiAti^occT ^|i. -Afjl-Conn. cy4C<\x\ ■ coTi4n. c]tio-pc . IsmV^m

The following is another specimen of the ogham characters

Pmi-t'E^ /lift 4

which, translated, reads, "Dermoind O^Sullevoine."

SYMBOLIC WRITING.

These oghams were used by the most learned Druids and scribes, to
communicate, exclusively to each other, the secret instructions and ordi-
nances of their order. They were not for the use of the profane, but the
initiated. The very term itself, ogma, in the Celtic, means " secret let-
ters," and the practice is directly traceable to the custom of the Phoeni-
cian and Egyptian priests. Each upright line or dot in the ogham, or
secret alphabet, expressed a word, an idea, or part of an idea.* The
learned Irish antiquarian, Ware, writing of these Irish " ogham colls,"
says, " They were writings that represented the branches of trees," and
adds, " I have a book of parchment filled with these kinds of characters."
Like the ancient Hebrew and the Ionic, the ogham scale consists of only
sixteen simple elements ; from the alphabetic Psalms it would appear
that the Hebrew had twenty-two letters ; but these Psalms are not older
than the times of David. Scaliger demonstrates that the original Hebrew
alphabet consisted only of sixteen letters, as did the Etruscan, according
to Gori ; as did the Ionic, according to Pliny, Suidas, Polybius, and
others. But, even as early as the time of Herodotus, the original forms
of the Ionic letters were lost. Sir R. Phillips says, " The Hebrew writ-
ten character w^as the Phoenician ; but in the captivity they acquired the
square Chaldaic, and lost the former." In Ireland, however, the original
number and forms of the letters, and the very name of the Phoeniciao
alphabet, were, and are still, preserved. Daily and De Gebelin say
that the Irish ogham ciphers come nearest to the mysterious inscription
at Persepolis. And Sir Richard Phillips, (English authority,) in another
part of his able work, says, " The current native language of Ireland is,
verbatim et literatim, that of Carthage, a territory of Phoenicia. Plautus
makes Hanno speak in Carthaginian, and ' Haim done Filli hanum bene
Filli in mustine,^ is, to a letter, either Irish, Carthaginian, or PhcBnician.'"
Many similar passages might be given from Plautus. " Scaliger sup-
poses (adds Phillips) the Phcenician to have been the original Hebrew
character, otherwise the Samaritan, and it is generally supposed to be
that which was used by the Jews from the time of Moses."

* I have heard it said that the Irish ogham writing, in which there are a thou-
sand arbitrary characters to represent words and ideas, gave to the late Mr. Perry,
of the London Morning Chronicle, his idea of short-hand and verbatim reporting
of the parliamentary debates. Before Perry's time there were no verbatim reports
of parliamentary speeches. Members who would make known their opinions were
obliged to publish them in pamphlets. It is a remarkable fact that the majority of
the reporters now on the London press are Irishmen ; and I may add, that 1 know
some of the very ablest reporters in the United States to be of the same country.

BEITH LUIS NION, OR IRISH ALPHABET.

I also present the Irish alphabet, called Beith Luis Nion^ having the
power or sound of each letter denoted by its correspondent in the Eng-
lish language, as arranged by Bishop Molloy, at Lovain and Rome.

Irish
Pronunciation.

Latin
Pronunciation.

English Pronunciation
and Signification.

. Ailim Abies Fir Tree A.

.Beith Betulla Birch B.

, .Colt Corylui Hazel C.

.Duir Ilex Oak D.

.Eadha Tremula Aspen.

. Fearn Alnus Alder .

.Gort Hedera Ivy . .

.E.
.F.
.G.

777

V-

-y.

.Huatli Oxiacantlius White Thorn H.

.Idho Taxus Yew I,

.Luis Ornus Wild Ash L.

. Muin Vitis Vine M.

. Nion Fraxinus Ash N.

. Oun Genista Broom O.

. Potte JS/ot explained. P.

, .Ruis Sambucus Elder R.

, .Duil SalLx Willow S.

, . Tinne JVot explained, probably the Deity T.

, .Ur Erix or Erica Heath U.

O'Halloran gives but sixteen letters, omitting the signs (English) F and
H ; but Moll9y, Valiancy, M'Geogheghan, Dunlevy, and Halliday, give
eighteen letters, — which I have supplied as above, — together with the
Latin and English significations of all.

It is a very remarkable circumstance, and proves the great antiquity
of the Irish language, that some of the zodiacal signs, and those of the
planets and satellites, are really letters of the Irish alphabet. The Irish
letters S, M, O, and G, are zodiacal signs ; B, R, and D are signs of
satellites. Some of the ogham signs appear to have an identity with the
signs of the planets and satellites. This proves that when men first
began to spell their way through the heavens, the signs by which they
denoted the most striking objects were the signs then used to denote the
ordinary sounds of the human voice. And these signs the Irish have
preserved for at least three thousand five hundred years, — an em-

86 FIDELITY OF THE IRISH TO THEIR LETTERS AND LANGUAGE.

dence that identifies the Irish language with the earliest development
of astronomical science. Nor ought it to be left unsaid here, that eigh-
teen in twenty-six of the ordinary manuscript characters which I am
now using, writing in the EngUsh language for the printer, and that
which all English people use in their ordinary writings, are the letters
of the old Irish alphabet. Perhaps not one English scholar in a mil-
lion is aware of this so very apparent fact, nor aware of the historical
attestation of Bede, Camden, and other English authors, which tells us
that " the Saxons received, in the sixth century, their literature, lan-
guage, and the forms of their letters, from the Hibernians."

Moore devotes several pages of learned research to this interesting
subject. From him I make a few brief extracts : —

" Abundant and various as are the monuments to which Ireland can
point, as mute evidences of her antiquity, she boasts a yet more striking
proof in the living language of her people, — in that most genuine, if
not only-existing dialect of the oldest of all European tongues, — the
tongue which, by whatever name it may be called, according to
the various theories respecting it, whether Japhetan, Cimmerian, Pelas-
gic, or Celtic, is accounted most generally to have been the earliest
brought from the East, and to have been the vehicle of the first knowl-
edge that dawned upon Europe. In the still v^'ritten and spoken
dialect of this primeval language we possess a monument of the high
antiquity of the people to whom it belongs, which no cavil can reach,
nor any doubts disturb. According to the view of some learned
philologers, the very imperfections attributed to the Irish language —
the predominance in it of gutturals, and the incompleteness of its
alphabet — are both but additional and convincing proofs as well of its
directly Eastern origin as of its remote antiquity. The tongues of the
East, before the introduction of aspirates, abounded with gutturals,
which softened by degrees into aspirates ; the alphabet, derived from
the Phoenicians by the Greeks, having had but the same limited number
of letters which compose the Irish. That the original Cadmian num-
ber was no more than sixteen is the opinion, with but few exceptions,
of the whole learned world ; and that such exactly is the number of
the genuine Irish alphabet has been proved satisfactorily by the learned
librarian of Stoive, Dr. O'Connor. Thus, while all the more recent
and mixed forms of language adopted the additional letters which the
Greeks introduced, the Irish alone continued to adhere to the original
number — the same number and the same character, no doubt, which
Herodotus saw graven on the tripods in the temple of Apollo at

Moore's opinion. 87

Thebes. To so characteristic an extent did the Irish people imitate
this fidelity, that even the introduction among them of the Roman
alphabet, by St. Patrick, did not tempt them into any innovation
upon their own. On the contrary, so wedded were they to their own
lettei-s, that, even in writing Latin words, they would never admit any
Roman character that was not to be found in their primitive alphabet,
but employed two or more of their own ancient characters to represent
the same organic sound. Thus, in all words begun or ended by x,
instead of writing that simple character, they used the double letters
qs, or es — a trouble they might have saved themselves, had they not
rejected it as an exotic character not existing in their alphabet.

" According to the learned Lazius, the Irish language abounds with
Hebrew words, and had its origin in the remotest ages of the world.
The eminent French writer Marcel endorses this opinion. This
writer, who was director of the chief school of literature in France,
under Napoleon, published an Irish alphabet, from the types belonging
to the Propaganda of Rome, which were sent by the order of Napo-
leon to Paris : from the types of the Propaganda, the Irish catechism
oi Molloy, called Lucerna Fidelium, was also printed."

Similar considerations induced the great Leibnitz to recommend a
diligent study of the Irish language, as highly conducive, in his opbion,
to the knowledge and promotion of Celtic literature.

The eminent Dr. Warner, an English historian, says, "The great
antiquity of the Irish language, which is the same as the ancient Scyth-
ian, affords another proof of the Phoenician origin of the Irish nation,
and that the elements of their idiom were brought to Ireland when
the use of letters was in its infancy. Indeed, the old Irish bears so
great an affinity to the ancient Hebrew, that, to those who are masters
of both, they appear plainly to be only dialects of the same tongue.
This surely lays a fair foundation for an ancient history to be built upon ;
for a nation and language are both of an age, and if a language be an-
cient, the people must be as old."

Raymond, another English antiquarian, says, " In order to discover
the original of the Irish nation, I was at the pains to compare all Euro-
pean languages with that of Ireland, and I found it had little agreement
with any of them. I then had recourse to the Celtic, the original
language of the ancient Celtse, or Scythians ; and I found the affinity so
great that there was scarcely .a shade of difference, there being such
an exact agreement between them, and the Irish lansuage having no

88 MOTHER TONGUES OF EUROPE.

affinity with any known language in the world, excepting the Hebrew
and Phoenician. This is sufficient, I think, to procure that credit to
Irish history which it may justly challenge." — " When we add to all
this," says Moore, " that, at the time when the Irish first broke forth, as
scholars and missionanes, upon Europe, they were found in possession
of modes of writing peculiar to themselves, of elements acknowledged
to have no prototypes in any known language, and differing in name,
number, and order, from those of every other existing alphabet, such
a coincidence, with all that we know of the early fortunes of the coun-
try, as well as with all that her own traditions lay claim to, forms a
case for the antiquity of her history and language, and priority of her
literature, not easily controverted." The learned Camden, himself an
Englishman, acknowledged that the Saxons received and adopted the
Irish letters — Anglo- Saxones rationcm fonnandi Kteras accepisse ab
Hibernis, cum eodem inane charactensi fuerit qui Bodie Hibernes est in
usu. Free translation — '• The Anglo-Saxons received a knowledge of
letters from the Hibernians ; whose idiom, or dialect, was soft and ex-
pressive." — Bede, the Saxon ecclesiastic, who wrote anno 7.30, states
that, in his time, the Irish language was spoken generally in the north
of England, and in Caledonia, together witli three or four others,
namely, the Latin, Pictish, English, or Saxon, and the British, which
was a dialect of Welsh. Camden, in another place, says, "St. Patrick's
disciples, in Ireland, were such great proficients in the Christian religion,
that, in the age following, [the close of the fifth century,] Ireland was
termed sanctorum patria, — that is, the country of saints. * * * *
The Saxons, in that age, flocked thither as to the great mart of learning;
and this is the reason why we find this so often in our writers — Amon-
daius est ad disciplinam in Hibernia — ' Such a one was sent over
into Ireland to be educated.' "

The French geogmpher Sanson says there are six mother lan-
guages in Europe, viz., the Irish, Finlandish, Welsh, Biscayan, Hun-
garian, and Albaniac. The Irish language, continues he, is, besides
in Ireland, still spoken in the north of Scotland. The Findlandish is
used in Scandinavia, which comprises Finland and Lapland. The
Bretonic, which is the language of Lower Brittany, in France, is
likewise called Welsh, after a province of England. The Biscayan
comprises Lower Navarre, with Cabour in France, and Biscay in
Spain. The Hungarian is the language. of Hungary and Transylvania,
which countries belong to Turkey in Europe ; and the Albanian is thus
named from Albania, a country also of Turkey in Europe.

NUMBER OF LETTERS IN FIFTEEN DIFFERENT ALPHABETS. 89

The present alphabets, of clifFerent nations, contain the following
number of letters, according to Phillips: —

Irish, (Phoenician,) 16; Persian, 32;

Hebrew, 22 ; Sanscrit, 50 ;

Greek, 24 ; Chinese, 214 ;

Latin, 22 ; Turkish, 33 ;

Sclavonic, 27 ; German, 26 ;

Spanish, 27 ; French, 25 ;

Russian, ........ 41 ; English, 26.

Arabic, 28 ;

The first letter, or sound, of the Phoenician [Irish] and Hebrew alpha-
bet, was aJejjh, which the Greeks called alpha; and which was original-
ly denoted, symbolically, by the figure of a man walking ; which, in
process of symbolic writing, was contracted to the figure made by the
man's /e^s; thus, [a,] our present A. So might we go through
the entire alphabets that follow the present Irish, and prove their deriva-
tions from it, which was itself formed from the first symbolic mode of
painting sounds, adopted by any of the human race. The Hebrew
language and letters are believed, by the most learned, to be derived
from the Phoenician ; since Tyre, Sidon, &;c., were distinguished cities
in the age of Moses and Joshua ; and even Abraham lived in their
territory.

An apparently well-informed writer, in Walker's Irish Bards, says,
" Another fatal injury, which the Irish language sustained, was from the
first missioners, who gave us an alphabet which did not express all the
sounds in the Celtic. This alphaljet very remarkably agrees with tlie
Runic. The vowel i was used for e, as double c was for g, and h
for p. No two or three vowels, joined together in the same word, can
form two different syllables for rhymes ; and hence the bards, to multiply
syllables for their rhymes, threw between the vowels a d, or g, aspi-
rated by an A ; thus corrupting and disguising the natural structure of
the word. C is constantly pronounced as a Jc. Unable, from insuf-
ficiency of letters, to express the sounds of the Irish language, these
consequences were inevitable, viz., its orthography and orthoepy were
altered ; its accentuation was lost ; the sonorous vowel e was not used,
/supplied its place, though less adapted to the inflections of the voice;
and hence the coarse descriptive terms applied to the language by
some writers, ancient and modern.
12

90 SUGGESTIONS FOR RESTORING THE LANGUAGE.

It is one of Lhuyd's observations, that the Irish have kept their
letters and orthography beyond all their neighboring nations, and still
continue the same letters and orthography, which makes their written
language appear very different from what they speak. The latter fol-
lowed, of course, from not having letters enough to express sounds ; the
enunciation and written language could never agree. But the former
part of the assertion is a gross error ; for the Irish endeavored to correct
the want of letters, to express all their sounds, by introducing the palatals
g, ch, gh, h, in after ages, to preserve some resemblance between the
writing and sound ; and also by the addition of the vowels e, y, the
labials p, ph, and v, and the linguals th, dh, and z.

A countryman and namesake of my own, residing in Boston, who reads
and writes the Irish character, intimates that he always understood there
were five vowels and twelve consonants in the Celtic alphabet.

A writer in Walker offers the following suggestions for the revival
of the language : " Is this venerable tongue to be suffered to go into total
oblivion ? By no means. The best thing that, in my opinion, can be
done, is, to collect from the various dialects of the Celtic its original
existing words into a vocabulary, as a standard to explain obscure terms.
Let all the scattered fragments be collected carefully ; let the canting phra-
seology of lawyers and physicians be investigated, and a key from those
will be formed to decipher the Brehon laws. A good Irish scholar,
thoroughly versed in ancient manuscript, I do aver, would, from the
intelligible commentary annexed to those laws, be able, in a short time, to
make a canting dictionary which would render the whole perfectly easy."

An eminent musical writer, in the same work, has the following obser^
vations on the musical properties of the Irish language : " In the Irish
language, all vowels meeting in one word, without a consonant between
them, make but one syllable, whether it be long or short ; but an aspi-
rated consonant between two vowels makes them separate syllables.
This property of the Irish language renders it exceedingly harmonious,
and well calculated for poetical and musical compositions ; far superior
either to the Latin or any of the modern tongues — a circumstance that
confirms the assertion of Cambrensis, who, speaking of the Irish music
of his day, [A. D. 1180,] says it was much superior to the Welsh;
theirs being of a grave and solemn nature, whereas that of the Irish was
soft, lively, and melodious, emitting soft and pleasant notes, divided by
just proportions into concords and discords, making a complete melody,
all of which depended upon the power and variety of the sounds and
length of the Irish vowels, and to which tiie Welsh language is a stranger."

ANCIENT IRISH AND EGYPTIANS THE SAME FAMILY. 91

From the specimens of the ancient Egyptian and Irish writing, which
I have given in previous pages, (see page 83,) it will easily be seen
that the Irish language was that spoken and written in the valley of the
Nile, four thousand years ago ; and the inference flowing from that iden-
tity is, that the first settlers in Ireland spoke and wrote the language
of the Pharaohs, and, as I shall prove in another place, practised the
same customs, religious, political, and social ; wore the same dresses,
manufactured the same textile fabrics, and were learned in the same arts
and sciences. On this head the learned English antiquarian. Colonel
Vallancey, has the following : " If they [the Irish] had not had an inter-
course, in former days, with the Egyptians, Persians, and Phoenicians,
how is it possible so many idioms of speech, so many technical terms, in
the arts of those ages, could have been introduced into the old Irish
dialect ? — terms not to be met with in the dialect of any other northern or
western nation. What people, the Egyptians and Irish excepted, named
the harp, or music, ouinil — Irish aine, that is, oirjideadh, that is, music,
a musical instrument : orphideadh expresses the action of playing. What
people in the world, the Orientalists and the Irish excepted, called the
coyy of a book the son of a book, and echo the daughter of a voice 1
With what northern nation, the Irish excepted, can the Oriental names
of the tools and implements of the stone-cutter, the carpenter, the ship-
builder, the weaver, be found ? And with what people, the old Irish and
Egyptians excepted, does the word ogham signify a book, and the name
of Hercules or Mercury ? The Egyptian name of ermes lies concealed
in the Irish compound ed-airmes ; that is, the root or art of invention.
And in what part of the globe, Egypt, Ireland, and Scotland, excepted,
were priests, or holy persons, denominated culdes, or caldes ? in the Cop-
tic, (Egyptian,) kaldes sanctitus 1 Again, the Coptic esonab sacerdos
is the Irish eascab, a bishop. To these examples we may add six hun-
dred others, of which in their proper place. But the most striking
instance of the intercourse of the Hiberno-Scythians with Egyptians and
Phoenicians is the prefixes to surnames, O, Ua, and Mac ; the former
denoting the eldest of the family, the second being a general name for
the son — O^ Stirps, familia ; hence O Siris. Thus the Irish use either
O or Ua ; as, UaConcobhar ; in English, O'Connor. Among what
people, the Egyptians and Irish excepted, did seach nab signify the
writing priest ? — he who was skilled in the sacred writing, &;c."

Vallancey thus continues, in a most interesting paper on the language,
manners, and customs, of the ancient Irish, to discuss their identity with
the Egyptians and Phoenicians, which I may refer to again in the prog-
ress of this work

92 MEANING OF THE TERM CELT.

The pioneers of colonization, who issued from the cradle and school
of the human race, in the valley of the Nile, and along the shores of the
Mediterranean, were called, very generally, Celts ; which means qidck
movers, voyagers. The term was synonymous with Phoenician : both
denominations appear to have been applied to the same people. — The
Phoenicians were a permanent nation, occupying the region now known
as Syria, and the Delta. The Celta were that portion of the great
families, either Egyptian or Phoenician, who moved off in quest of new
settlements. The word celerity (speed) is evidently a derivation from
the term. The fertile lands of Italy, Sicily, Spain, Gaul, (France,)
and Ireland, were those first settled by these enterprising bands. They
separated into cantons or nations that acquired or assumed distinctive
appellations. Celt, or Kelt, seemed to be the genus ; Gael, Gaul,
Cymri, Belgce, Teutons, he, the species. Dr. Murray observes, " Each
horde soon multiplied into various nations, regulated by similar customs,
and loosely connected by language." Various circumstances, operating
on their common speech, gave rise to peculiar pronunciation or dialect.
The change of old, the substitution of new words, and other causes af-
fecting articulation, produce, in dme, great difference between the speech
of distant places in an extensive country ; but among nations of identic
origin there must long continue a close affinity of language. An
eminent French author, M. Bullet, says the difference of climate will
alter a language. The extension of science, manufactures, and com-
merce, will alter the character of a nation's language, fill it with new
terms for the inventions and improvements made, and produce, by the
introduction of foreigners, a change in its pronunciation. Polyhius, the
Greek writer of Roman history, he, tells us diat the Latin was, in his
time, [two hundred years before Christ,] so different from what it had
been in the time of Lucius Junius Brutus and Marcus Valerius, three
hundred years previously, who were consuls when the first treaty be-
tween the Romans and Carthaginians was made, that little of that
document could be then understood ; and Hannibal, the Carthaginian
general, when treating with the Gauls, was obliged to erflploy an
interpreter, though the Gauls originally spoke the same language, and
were, in fact, a part of the Carthaginian family.

Logan, the compiler of a work on Scottish antiquities, though he has,
like many other of his countrymen, endeavored to appropriate the ancient
military and literary renown of Ireland, without offering a particle of
documentary evidence in support of his claim, has, however, gathered
together a goodly volume of ancient traditional fragments, which are
agreeably arranged, and offer a recreative study to the antiquarian.

ESTIiMATE OF THE NUMBERS WHO SPEAK IRISH. 93

From Mr. Logan's work I may occasionally pluck a flower to variegate
or adorn my own. On the language of the Celts, that writer has the
following passage in the closing pages of his book : —

"The Celtic language has been several times the object of legislative
severity. In lerland several enactments were passed against it, as
was the case in Wales, about 1700. Even so late as 1769, a plan was
entertained by the bishops to extinguish Cumrag, by having the church
service performed in the English only — a circumstance that but too
often occurs, it is to be feared, without such a design. In Scotland I
have often heard it complained that clergymen were put into a living
who were quite unable to preach to the people in their vernacular
tongue. It was attempted to root out the Gaelic, [Irish ;] but, as might
be expected, the design was impracticable. I d6 not know if the
French ever thought of abolishing the Breton language, which, by
Lagonidec, is said to be still spoken by upwards of four millions of
people ; a trial would have shown that no measures could accomplish
this. The case of the Wends, whose language it was attempted to
suppress, shows the impracticability of forcibly changing the mother
tongue of any people. In 1765, it was thought expedient to eradicate
the Bohemian language, and the design was long prosecuted, before
the impossibility of accomplishing the object was discovered.

" The nobility and gentry of Ireland continued to speak and write
their native language until the reign of Elizabeth, or James the First.
The Highlanders relinquished the practice of writing in Gaelic before
they had acquired any taste for conversation in English. Rory Mor,
chief of the M'Leods, is said to have been the last of the Gael, who
continued to write in the language of his fathers.

" There are at present upwards of three millions of people in the
British isles, who speak Celtic, viz., about two millions in Ireland, [in
this calculation Mr. Logan is far under the mark ; I shall refer to it at
the close of the quotation,] about four hundred thousand in Scotland,
and about seven hundred thousand in Wales. This latter country
began very early to pay considerable attention to the printing of books
in the native language. By a catalogue, published in 1710, there ap-
pears to have been then upwards of seventy. Almanacs, magazines,
dictionaries, grammars, religious books, and even several scientific
works, have been published, and the number is supposed now to
exceed ten thousand. The first Welsh Bible, a black letter folio, was
printed in 1563 ; the first in Ireland, I believe, was in 1609. Bishop
Kers well's Liturgy, 1566, appears to have been the first book printed

94 GAELIC BOOKS. GAELIC DICTIONARY.

in Gaelic. The Bible, and many other books, among which are not to
be forgotten the poems of Ossian, from the original manuscripts by the
Highland Society, have been since published ; yet education and liter-
ature were certainly less attended to by the Highlanders than their
characteristic thirst for knowledge might have led us to expect. But
the cause is to be found in the unsettled state of society. Wales is
nearly four times richer than Scotland, [which I doubt much,] and sup-
ports seven or eight periodicals in the native language, while Scotland
has only recently established one, the Teachdaire Ga'elach, or Highland
Messenger, which, however, appears to meet with suitable encouragement.

" The want of a Gaelic dictionary was long felt in Scotland ; but
that of Mr. Armstrong, published in 1825, was hailed with satisfaction,
and the labors of the gentlemen employed by the Highland Society
have more recently appeared in the Dictionarium Scoto-Celticum,
in two large volumes, quarto, which will now preserve this pure and
valuable dialect of a language once universal in Europe. It will also fix
the orthography, which was previously so unsettled. The learned have
frequently suggested means of simplifying the spelling, by getting rid of
numerous consonants which are retained without being at all sounded.
The Celtic Society of Glasgow have this year, 1833, offered four
prizes for the best essays on the subject ; but their exertions have come
too late, it is to be feared, to produce any effect. The apparently use-
less consonants are retained to show the root or primitive of a word,
and thereby prevent confusion.

" Notwithstanding, the important assistance which, in acquiring
other languages, would be derived from a knowledge of this jjrimitive
tongue, there is not a Celtic professorship in any seminary of learning
in the kingdom." [A professor of the Irish language has been recently
appointed in Trinity College, Dublin.]

Mr. Logan evidently underrates the numbers in Ireland, who still
speak the Irish language, in fixing them at two millions. AU the
inhabitants of Connaught, with very few exceptions, speak the Irish,
in their ordinary conversations. The people of that province alone
number over two millions; in the southern province of Munster, whose
population is rather more than two millions, the Irish language is spoken
with nearly equal generality. There are many parts of the south and
west of Ireland in which the English language is very seldom spoken,
and very little understood. At the " monster meeting," held, in the
autumn of 1843, at Skibbereen, in the western part of the county of
Cork, O'Connell was interrupted, in his English speech, by an old

MR. LOGAN S ESTIMATE ERKONEOUS. 95

man, who, with thousands of others on the spot, could not understand a
word of what he said. The old man exclaimed in Irish, " Lawir Gailic T'
upon which the Liberator, with astonishing promptitude and ease,
changed the vehicle of his ideas to the old language of the nation, in
which medium he continued, to the end of his speech, to pour out the
burning lava of his heart upon the mass of boiling blood, which had
gathered at his call from a thousand sources in the neighboring mountains.

The Irish spoken in Munster is esteemed by the best judges to be
purer, and more classical, than that spoken in any other part of Ireland,
or in Wales, or Scotland. The Irish spoken in the province of Con-
naught is said, by competent judges, to be the sweeter in accent. The
people of the south of Ireland generally cultivate the Irish tongue with
classical care, and are so thoroughly conversant with its radices, that they
master, with little difficulty, most other languages. It is no uncommon
thing, as remarked by learned travellers through Ireland, to find the
working peasants, in many parts of the south of Ireland, conversant with
Homer, Virgil, and Horace, in the original text. The cultivation of
letters seems to be a natural instinct of the southern inhabitants of Ire-
land. Although not more brave than their countrymen in the other
provinces, they were more fortunate in maintaining their independence,
and with it their letters, language, and chivalrous spirit, against all
sorts of British force and influence, longer than any other portion of their
countrymen. The south of Ireland has given to the world, certainly, the
most learned and eloquent men ; and this may be, in a great degree,
attributed to their careful and classical cultivation of the pure Irish lan-
guage, which offers a thorough key to the other languages of Europe,
and enables the orator or writer to select, with ease, the most powerfully
expressive words to convey the conceptions of his mind.

I confidently believe that Jive millions of the eight and a half, which
compose the population of Ireland, speak the Irish language. In
Munster, eleven speak Irish to three who speak English : in Con-
naught, the proportion is thirteen to one. In Leinster about one half,
and in Ulster two thirds, speak the Irish language. There are a couple
of millions of Irishmen living by their labor in England ; of these, I am
certain, one third, at least, speak the ancient language of their country.
In America, I am a witness that it is freely spoken by Irishmen, at their
work, in New Orieans, New York, and Newfoundland. There are
upwards of four millions of Irish people scattered along the American
continent, under the various governments of Britain, United States,
Mexico, &c. ; of these scattered exiles, the half speak the language of

96 EFFORTS TO REVIVE THE IPJSH LANGUAGE.

their fathers. Then there are the British colonies in the West and
East Indies, and towards the south pole, and, besides, the numerous ships
and armies of Britain, which carry with them, wheresoever they go, the
persecuted language, with the oppressed sons, of Ireland.

Thus I compute, that the Celtico-Gaelic is yet spoken by eight mil-
lions of native born Irishmen, and by eleven hundred thousand Scotch
and Welshmen — much more than five times the number in the whole
world who speak Greek, and ten times the number in the world who
speak Latin, and twenty times the number of those who speak
Hebrew, dialectcs so much cultivated by the learned world. And when
we leflect, that those who speak the " ancient tongue," are generally
illiterate, and stick to it in defiance of fashion, derision, ridicule, and
interest, how exalted must be our ideas of the vitality of that language,
which vitality is chiefly — perhaps alone — attributable to its brevity,
melody, power, and expression !

I do not conceive how any man, ignorant of the Irish language, can be
deemed a complete scholar. Without its aid he cannot penetrate the
arcliives of literature that lie behind Greece and Rome. I am fortified
in this position by the opinion of a ])opular and judicious English
writer of the present times, namely, Sir Richard Phillips ; from whose
work on ancient and modern history, languages, and literature, I have
already drawn many appropriate supjDlies.

" Every thing in Europe is modern and imitative, in relation to
the history, science, and literature, of the Arabians, [the Egyptians and
Phoenicians,] and the nations who wrote and spoke in their language.
The Greeks were their servile imitators ; and study, in Greece, was to
visit those countries and borrow from them. Pythagoras even served
in the Chaldaic armies, and Solon, Plato, Anaxagoras, and others,
travelled in Arabian countries before they professed wisdom. We also
might drink at the same fountain, but by a strange fatality have preferred
the muddy stream of GreeJc and Roman derivation. Scarcely fifty in
all Europe understand Arabic, [the ancient Phoenician,] but five thou-
sand Greek, and a million Latin ; though the Romans merely copied
the Greeks, who mutilated their own original."

Let us hope that the senseless prejudice, raised by our tyrant foes
against the powerfully expressive and truly melodious language of oui-
forefathers, shall not, in our days, be suffered to prevail against it. We
are struggling hard to restore our country to her place amongst the
nations ; we must be successful if we but persevere, and act in concert.
Let us make an effort, a collateral effort, to revive her literature and

THE SCRIPTURES PRINTED IN IRISH. 97

her language ; let those who shall come after us be told, that there
lived men in this generation who felt all the ennobling pride of ancestry,
of nation, and of tongue, and who offered at their holy shrines the
homage of hearts and hands pulsating with Milesian blood.

Within the last four or five years, a vigorous spirit of nationality,
in respect to language, has grown up in Ireland : this spirit has been
quickened by occasional essays on the ancient tongue, published in the
periodical press. There is also established an Archaeological Society,
to revive the hterature and language of the country, at the head of
which, as secretary, presides a most erudite Irish scholar in the person
of O'Donovan. The elaborately learned publications of Sir William
Betham, on the antiquities and letters of the ancient Celtae, Etruscans,
&c., have done vvondei-s to open men's eyes to the rich mines of
literary wealth, that lie unexplored for want of a thorough knowledge
of the Irish tongue.

That profoundly learned and purely patriotic divine, the Archbishop
of Tuam, popularly called John of Tuam, and justly designated, by
O'Connell, the "Lion of the Fold of Judah," has not been idle in
trying to revive the national language. Not only does he preach in
the old language himself, but insists on the clergymen, under his
episcopal authority, preaching to the people the tidings of the cross
through the medium of their ancient tongue. His authority extends
over the entire province of Connaught, and his example and influence
have proved a wonderful stimulus to the revival of a taste for the Irish
language in other parts of the island. His grace has translated several
of Moore's most national melodies from the English language into the
Irish, for the purpose of diffusing the sentiments of the inspired bard
amongst the oppressed people for whom he strung the lyre of his
country with such irresistible power — and is, with the same laudable
zeal, now translating the Iliad of Homer into Irish. In the clerical
colleges of Maynooth, Carlow, and Kilkenny, which are devoted to the
education of Catholic clergymen, the Irish language is taught as
part of the educational course ; and in the colleges where missionaries
of opposite forms of ci'eed are educated, it has latterly been made a
branch of study and acquirement. Some of these missionaries have
gone so far as to print the Scriptures in the Irish language, for distribu-
tion in the west and south of Ireland. Though their immediate object —
that of changing the people from the old to some of the new forms of
faith — has not been accomplished, yet their labors have been productive
of great service in reviving the study, the writing, and printing, of the

national language.

SUGGESTIONS FOR ITS REVIVAL.

The writers in the Dublin Nation have done their share in the good
work, by the frequent pubhcation of very eloquent and interesting
essays on the nature of the language. The immortal songs, in the Na-
tion, in which are artfully and beautifully woven together, by happy
allusions, the literary and military events, and associations, of Irish
glory, or Irish sorrow, have stirred through the national heart the
slumbering life-blood of Ireland, have awakened a new pulsation for
freedom, a new fervor for nationality, a new appetite for Irish literature,
language, art, and music.

Such desires and appetites cannot long remain ungratified. Already
are there historians, poets, painters, engravers, statuaries, and anti-
quarians, at work, endeavoring to satisfy the new desires that are felt
by the sober, regenerated Irish people. The writers in the Dublin
Nation have suggested the publication of a weekly newspaper in the
Irish- language, as one of the means wliich ought to be resorted to for
its revival. And they reason on the revival of the language thus :
" The bulk of our history and poetry is written in Irish ; and shall we,
who learn Italian, and Latin, and Greek, to read Dante, Livy, and
Homer, in the original, — shall we be content with ignorance, or, per-
haps, an ignorant translation of Irish?" Abetter and cheaper plan,
perhaps, would be the publication, in the Nation, every week, of a
column of news in the Irish, with a juxtaposition translation in the
English language. One of the newspapers in New Orleans, where
half the population' are French, and the other half English, publishes
the leading news in a couple of French columns, and also a transla-
tion into English, in the same paper. In Montreal and Quebec,
likewise, in many of the newspapers, and in all the public proc-
lamations, the matter is published in both the French and English
languages. Such a plan would, I am convinced, work admirably in
Ireland.

It ought to be made known to every parent, who has it in his power
to give his sons a classical education, that the Irish language is the key
to all the others. Almost all the distinguished Irishmen, who have kept
entranced assemblies hanging on their accents, have been well versed in
the Irish language. The great O'Connell is a remarkable instance in
illustration ; so is Cm-ran ; both of whom sucked in the Irish language
with their nurses' milk : both of these men were unequalled, at the Irish
bar, in getting at the hearts of a jury.

It is an admitted fact that the Irish language is the most touching of
any which can be used by the advocate in persuasion, or the lover in

SUGGESTIONS TO PARENTS IN AMERICA. 99

supplication ; it is the most scathing in the expression of loathing or
scorn, the most animating in war, the most expressive in suffering,
the most melting in woe, the most persuasive in debate. He who
knows it best, other acquirements being given, will prove the most suc-
cessful suitor, the most powerful debater.

Would it not be wise, tlierefore, in parents in America, as in Ireland,
who intend to prepare their sons for the learned walks of life, to have
instilled into their youthful minds a knowledge of the Irish language ?
Our Irish colleges, in America, should have a professor of that lan-
guage. A sort of scholastic foppery prevails in our Irish colleges
here, which has kept out our old language from the studies of youth :
Jjecause, forsooth, it has been proclaimed down in Oxford and Cam-
bridge, it ought, therefore, to be prohibited in those colleges of Americii
which are exclusively filled by the sons of Irish parents. This is false
doctrine. With uplifsed hands I repudiate it !

Many Irishmen there are in this country who have, by great labor
and industry, realized a wealthy competence, and, stimulated by the
undying devotion of their race to letters, spare no expense in giving
their sons what is called a " splendid education ; " but not one word of
the history and language of their fathers' country are they taught in
the course of this "splendid education." With the beastly ferocity of
pagan Rome, with the refined immorality of the Greeks, with the
military and manufacturing prowess of bloodstained Britain, with the
dazzling frivolity of France, are they made familiar, and with the in-
Jidelity of all a.ve they deeply saturated; but with the military renown
'of the country of their fathers, with its morality and letters even before
Christianity, with its Christian piety ever since, with its ages of faith,
of glory, of law, of government, of literature, of hospitality, of inde-
pendence, they are left unacquainted. Of its ancient and erudite
language they know nothing ; its science and art they discredit ; its
ancient manuscripts, that enrich the shelves of European libraries, they
disregard ; its classic architectural piles that yet stand, stubbornly above
the earth, proclaiming the science and piety of their founders, are un-
known, unseen, unheeded. Ireland, whose entire surface, for several
feet deep, is enriched with the dust of their sainted forefathers, is ex-
cluded from their studies, and forgotten in their hearts ; and some of
these half-taught fops go to the extremity of denying their extraction,
despising their fathers and their fathers' country, and at last abandon
the sacred principles of their fathers' religion, taught them by Christ and
Saint Patrick.

100 APPEAL TO THE OPULENT AMONG THE IRISH.

Let me ask the Irish father, whose heart is proof against the
fashionable cant, and duplicity, and villany, to be found in the atmos-
phere of our great cities, whether this mode of education shall be
suffered to continue. Let me ask the clergyman, whose experience
must attest the truth of my premises and my inferences, whether
Ireland, and her language, as a study, are to be excluded from the
course of education administered to our youth. Let me suggest to
the true-hearted Irishmen, who are able to pay for the classical educa-
tion of their sons, to insist on their being taught the language and
history of their ancestors ; the most interesting lay study that can be put
before the minds of youth.

What I have written may not fall, in every instance, on inanimate
rocks ; the spark I fling out may fall on a large Irish heart, a maga-
zine full of the best affections of humanity, the exalted impulses of
which may be sustained by affluence. These suggestions may find
their way to such a heart, and may light up a resolve within it, to
do some substantial thing to perpetuate on this continent the lan-
guage of ancient Ireland. There are many Irishmen in the United
States who have realized very large properties ; indeed, there have
been some immense properties amassed by Irishmen in this coun-
try. In St. Louis and other parts of the south and west there are
some Irish families excessively wealthy. In Natchez there is an Irish
family which has given ten thousand dollars towards the erection of
the Catholic church in that place. In some parts of Ohio I have seen
schools and churches that have been raised by the beneficence of indi-
vidual Irishmen, who appropriated lands to their maintenance. The
public institutions of Baltimore, St. Louis, and other cities, bear testimony
to the magnificent generosity of the Irish heart. The greatest prop-
erty in America, — that which has just been awarded by the Supreme
Court to the children and heirs of General Gaines, — amounting to
fifteen millions of dollars, arising from a portion of the city of New-
Orleans, was originally gathered by an Irishman in that city, whose
daughter the late General Gaines married. The Croghans — Irish also —
have immense properties in Pittsburg and Louisville. The Devereuxs
have immense properties in the state of New York. In Brooklyn, near
New York, there is an Irishman worth two millions of dollars. In
Boston there is another who is worth, at least, half a million.

Who knows .but these or some others equally wealthy, whom I do
not know, into whose hands these pages may fall, and who, admiring

APPEAL, TO THE OPULENT AMONG THE IRISH. 101

the glorious history of their forefathers, may be induced to appropriate
to its honor some five or ten thousand dollars, the interest of which
would support forever a professor of the Irish language in some of
those chief colleges where the sons of wealthy Irishmen congregate
for instruction ? What an enduring monument of a good, enlightened
man would such a bequest create ! It would perpetuate the name of
the liberal donor to the remotest generations, and connect it with the
classic associations of the Milesian race. The hint I thus cast upon
the waves of time may yet be taken up, nursed, and matured into
a vigorous realization, and the language of the sages and saints of
Ireland may yet be steadily perpetuated along this continent, amongst
the descendants of a once illustrious people.

Were those who are blessed with the means of promoting this great
object to read the life of Flood, — to be found towards the close of this
work, — they will there learn the estimate which that truly great Irish-
man formed of the Irish language, to revive which he bequeathed the
reversion of his entire estates. They could hardly resist the appeal of
so brilliant a precedent.

Since the foregoing essay was written, I have noticed, in a Dublin
paper, the following paragraph, which proves that in the ancient lands
of Africa, the language so long preserved in Ireland is occasionally
heard.

" Silk Buckingham, by way of settling the question as to the descent
of the Irish from the .Phoenicians, mentioned a fact, which had come
within his knowledge, of a gentleman from Fez, who by means of the
language of the mountaineers of Atlas, with which he was intimately
acquainted, kept up a conversation with two Irishmen, in their native
idiom. He also knew of a Dublin lady, who, by means of the Irish
language, conversed freely with the mountaineers of Atlas in their native
idiom ; these niountaineers being the descendants of Carthaginians who
had taken refuge in ancient times in the Atlas range, and preserved the
dialect of their Phoenician forefathers."

102 PKINCIPAL IRISH AND BRITISH HISTORIANS OF IRELAND.

SECTION 11.

Notice of the Principal Irish and British Historians of Ireland. — Amberghin. — Eth-
rial . — Ollamh Fodhla. — " The Black Book." — " Book of Conquests."— " Book of
Invasions." — Psalters of Cashell, Glendelagh, Armagh, Na-Pi,aun, &c. — Annals
of Tigernachus. — Ancient Manuscripts found in the Abbey of Icolm-Kille, in Scot-
land.— Ware's Opinion. — M'Geoghegan's Opinion. — Annals of Ulster. — Usher.
Oxford Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts. — Abbe M'Geoghegan. — Manuscripts
carried to France by James the Second. — Old Manuscripts in Trinity College,
Dublin. — First British Historians. — Gildas. — Bede. — Cambrensis. — Falsehood
of his Work on Ireland. — Piead by him at Oxford. — Exposed during his Lifetime.

— Admitted and apologized for by him. — Ware's Opinion of Cambrensis. — Other
English Historians. — Sir James Ware. — Ireland has a better Bight to Antiquity
than Rome. — Ancient Manuscripts of Ireland. — Irish and other Authors who
have written within the last three Centuries. — Lombard. — Keating. — O'Sulli-
van. — Ward. — O'Cleary. — Roth. — Usher. — Colgan. — Sir James Ware. —
Belling. — Walsh. — O'Flaherty. — O'Reilly. — Porter. — Allemand. — Molyneux.
O'Kennedy. — Harris. — O'Connor. — Leland. — Warner. — Abbe M'Geoghegan. —
O'Conor. — Ledwich. — Scully. — Corry . — Wise. — Colonel Vallancey. — O'Hallo-
ran. — Walker. — Plowden. — Barrington. — Grattan. — Wyse. — Carey. — Pepper.

— Moore. — Life of O'Connell. — Battersby. — O'Callaghan. — O'Connell. —
Madden. — Wolfe Tone. — M'Neven. — Emmet, &c.

I PROPOSE, in this place, to give a very brief account of .some of the
more prominent Irish, Biitish, and other historians, by whom the great
fabric of Irish history has been erected. Most historians refer, in very
abbreviated notices, to previous authorities, from whom they quote, sup-
posing tlieir readers ah-eady acquainted with all those authors.- This I
have myself always felt to be very unsatisfactory. To those who spend
all their time in the company of books, these abbreviated notices are not
so great a source of inconvenience as to the great bulk of mankind, who
aj'e occupied with affairs far apart from literary study.

As 1 design this book for young persons, of both sexes, who cannot
possibly be acquainted with one tenth of the learned authors to whom
reference is made, I shall do my utmost, throughout the work, to render
every thing as plain — as easily comprehended — as possible ; and, instead
of merely referring to authorities which many may not have the inclina-
tion or the means of consulting, 1 will put them in direct communication
with the authors themselves, by publishing appropriate extracts ; exhib-
iting, in their own words, the variety, spirit, and material, of their
testimony to the ancient civilization and glory of Ireland.

The first literary person that our annals record is Amberghin, the
brother of Heber and Heremon, the leaders of the first Milesian colony.

AMBERGHIN. ETHRIAL. OLLAMH FODHLA. 103

He wrote a poem descriptive of the voyage and adventures of the Mile-
sian colony from Spain. According to O'Flaherty, he was poet and
judge of the colony; and Sir William Betham. gives in full, in the
original text, Amberghin's poem containing all the occurrences, with a
literal translation, which that learned man pronounces to be the Irish
account of the same events as those recorded in engraved characters on
the Eugubian brass Tables. The poems of Amberghin are the most an-
cient compositions in the Irish language. They are altogether historical,
and are, in that respect, according to the custom of the ancients, who
wrote nearly all their histories, biographies, and laws, in poetic meas-
ures, the better to preserve them in the memories of the people. These
very ancient poems are found in the Books of Leacan, Ballymote,
and the Book of Conquests, says Sir William Bethara, copied from
more ancient manuscripts now lost, or, if existing, not at present in
possession of the learned world. The language of those poems bears a
striking and extraordinary resemblance to that of the Etruscan Tables.
It is monosyllabic. Many of the expressions are the same, and the
style of the whole is very like. There can be no doubt of their very
remote antiquity, being handed down by successive transcribers for cen-
turies, who, ignorant of their meaning, had no motive for deception.
They transcribed them from more ancient copies, to preserve them as
ancient monuments of their country, admitting their incapability to
develop their meaning. They have, from their great antiquity, been
nearly as much a sealed book as the Eugubian Tables. There are four
of these ancient poems, one of which is an account of the passage of a
ship across the Bay of Biscay to Ireland ; being, as it were, the Irish
account of the event celebrated in the Eugubian Tables.

Ethrial, son of Irial, the monarch and prophet of Ireland, wrote, ac-
cording to Keating, the history of the voyages and migrations of the
Milesians down to his time, about forty years after the death of Amber-
ghin. Ethrial also wrote some tracts on laws and medicine.

Ollamh Fodhla, the lawgiver and King, about three centuries after
Ethrial's time, delivered in to the estates of Tara a history of his ances-
tors to that time. This great work was received and adopted by the
assembled estates as the basis of their national registry. They denom-
inated it the Psalter of Tara. Copies of this work were made and kept
in Tuam, Glmdalough, Cashell, and some other places. Tlie history
of Ireland was kept as a business of the king and pariiament for very
many generations. Collateral with this great registry were written
certain auxiliary books, called the " Black Book," the " Book of Con-

104 PSALTER NA-PaUN'. ARMAGH. CASHELL. ETC.

quests," the '•' Book of Invasions." The contents of these ancient
books, together \s-ith all contained in the great Book of Tara, were
carefully collated and entered in the Psalter of CashelL by Cormac
M' CuUinane, Bishop and Governor of Munster, in the beginning of the
tenth century.

Cairbre Liffeachair, monarch in the third century of the Chris-
tian era, conposed the History of Kings, who were his jwedecessors ;
"' a copy of which," says the Abbe M'Geoghegan, " had been pre-
served until the last [17th] century, in the abbey of Icolra-Kill, and
Sir George 3I'Kenzie, in his Defence of the Royal Line of Scotland,
mentions to have seen it.'' Since the time of Christianity (I quote from
the same author) we have the book called Xa-Geeart, written half in
Irish and half in Latin, by St. Benignus, disciple of St. Patrick : the
Psalter called Xa-Raun. the Psalter of Armasrh, of Cluan M'XoisJc,
Cliian Aigneach. and of Gravala : the - Books" of Fiontan of Leir,
Glendaloch. Roscrea, and Kilkenny. These "Books" were kept by
the bishops or abbots of those j^ces, for they were monasteries ^ith
churches attached. They were histories of the country generally, and
of the local ecclesiastical institutions. Gillia Keavin, in the tenth
century, \^Tiote an epic poem, into which he wove the whole history of
Ireland from the beginning. In this great work, a copy of which is still
extant, he presents the entire thread of Irish history, though, no doubt,
highly embellished with poetical colorings. Yet we cannot doubt the
existence of the men whom he describes, (x the general facts he weaves
in, because we may believe the favorite actors of the poet have been
overmuch exalted. With equal reason might those who will occupy
our places, five hundred years hence, disbelieve the almost incredible
exertions of Washington and O'Connell, and, indeed, their verv exist-
ence, because the grateful people of our day. have almost deified those
great men.

The Martyrology of ^larianus Gorman was written in the elev-
enth century. This work, together with many Irish manuscripts, was
translated into Engliih, in 1627, by ConeU M'Geoghegan, which is
recorded in O'Flaherty's Ogjgia. The Annals of Tigernachus, of
Cluan M'Xoisk, were \\Titten in the Irish language and characters, in
the eleventh century. They were records of Ireland, kept at that
monastery. The Annals of Ennisfail were wTitten in the thirteenth
century, also the Synchronisms of Flannus a Monasterio. The greatest
part of these writings are still entire.

Sir George M'Kenzie, the Scotch writer already referred to, in his

ANCIENT MANX'SCRIPTS FOUND IN THE ABBEY OF ICOLM-KILL. 105

Defence of the Royal Line of Scotland, printed at Edinburgh, in 1685,
speaks of the Irish manuscripts in the abbey of Icohii-Kill, which he
had seen. The following are his words : " Since I have commenced
this work, a very ancient manuscript of the abbey of Icolm-Kill has
fallen into my hands. It was written by Cairbre LifFeachair, who lived
six generations before St. Patrick, and about the time of our Savior.
An exact account is given in it of Irish kings ; from whence I infer that,
as the Irish had manuscripts at that period, we certainly must have pos-
sessed them. I have also seen an ancient genealogy of the kings of the
Scots, in Albania, [that is, the Irish colony established in Caledonia, in
the reign of Heremon. The ancient Irish were called iSco/5,] which
agrees with \vhat has been said in our history on the crowning of Alex-
ander the Second, and which is preserved at Icolm-Kill as a sacred
deposit. And I have also seen another ancient manuscript, which sets
forth that the Dalreudini [the sons and posterity of the Irish prince
Cairbre Raidi, who governed Caledonia in a remote age] of Albania
have been established here [in Scotland] six generations before Eire,
whom Usher calls the father of our kings. From the same manu-
script it is discovered that Angus Thuirtheampher had reigned in
Ireland five hundred years before our Fergus the First, [of Scotland,]
which accords with our histories, which say that the Scots inhabited
this country for a long period before Feargus established himself in it.
These same Irish manuscripts agree also with the history of Cau-bre,
alluded to above : these are, in fact, the additions made to his book by
our ancient Senachies."

The learned Ware [Irish writer] quotes the Psalter named " Nar-
ran," written in the eighth century, half Irish and half Latin, by x\ongus
Kelide, or Colideus. The same author praises highly the Psalter of
Cashell, and its learned author, Cormac JNI'Cullinnan, Bishop of Cashell
and King of the province of Munster, who wrote in the beginning of the
tenth century. " He was a man,"' says fVare, " most learned and
skilled in the antiquities of Ireland, and wrote in his native language a
history, commonly called the Psalter of Cashel, ivhich is sfill extant,
and held in high esteejn.'^

There were, besides these distinguished Irish authorities, many of
lesser note; viz., Lecan, 3loJaga. DDioJing, O'Duvegan, ]\rEgan,
Moel Conroy, O'Brodeen, O'Doran, O'Duneen, &:c. All these au-
thors have written one after the other. They have transmitted, age
after age, says 3rGeoghegan. and from hand to hand, the thread of
the history of the INIilesians, from the beginning. Scarcely an age
14

106 ANNALS OF ULSTER.

USHER.

passes without some who write the histoiy of every country. The last
historians, if general, always renew and relate, besides the present, what-
ever might be contained in the ancient monuments of a country ; so
that, should the original ones be lost, or consumed by time, (contingen-
cies that have pursued the records of all nations,) their substance is still
preserved in modern works. The realities of the monuments of the
Milesians cannot be doubted. They are quoted by authors that are
well known, and incapable of imposing on tliem by substituting chime-
ras for the true ones. Keating, Colgan, Gratianus Lucius, Walsh,
O'Flaherty, Kennedy, and others, quote them in every page. The
celebrated Protestant Archbishop Usher discovered in the ancient
archives of the Armagh cathedral (which was built by St. Patrick)
a gathering of the most ancient monuments of intellectual greatness.
One of these valuable works was called the Annals of Ulster, which
Usher named Ultonieyises. It was written partly in Irish, and partly in
Latin, but in the Irish character. It was a history of all public occur-
rences in Ireland for many centuries previous, kept by the clergy of
that cathedral from the times of St. Patrick, 444. The last writer on
this celebrated record was Roderick Cassidy, Archdeacon of Clogher,
who lived in the eleventh century, and died 1041, and who continued
the great work down to his own time.

Usher himself 'has written much on the history of Ireland, and indeed
on universal history. He was a very learned man, and may be more
indebted for his fame to the rare and ancient records which he discov-
ered in Armagh than the worid supposes. He speaks highly of the
Annals of Ulster, and of the ancient Annals of Tigernachus, another
historical work of remote ages. One of the most ancient specimens
of Greek musical notation that is now in the world, was found here by
Usher, and published, in the close of the sixteenth century. On this
ancient relic I shall have more to say under the head of our " ancient
music." Usher was a sort of Presbyterian Episcopalian, receiving, in
that respect, his hue from James the First of England. His Chronol-
ogy, of the Creation, had been received and adopted by the British
parliament in the beginning of the seventeenth century.

There has been published in Oxford a catalogue of the ancient English
and Irish manuscripts deposited with the Duke of Chandos, in England,
by the Earl of Clarendon. — That ancient seat of learning, I may note
in a parenthesis, was oi'Iglnally established in part by Irish professors, in
the time of King Alfred. — In that catalogue are the following notices of
some of the Irish works in the possession of the Duke : —

' ABBE m'gEOGHEGAN. MANUSCRIPTS CARRIED TO FRANCE. 107

" The Annals of Ulster is a book of most ancient character, and has
been written partly in Irish, and partly in Latin, but in the Irish charac-
ters ; it commences with the year of our Lord 444, and ends A. D. 1041,
in which Rodericus Cassideus, Archdeacon of Clogher, died ; he wrote
the latter part of said Annals." — Vol. 2.

" The Annals of Tigernachus (according to Ware) Clonmacnaisensis
are mutilated in the beginning. The author touches on universal histo-
ry, till the coming of St. Patrick ; after this he describes the affairs of
Ireland, till the year of our Lord 1088, in which he died ; the book is
in the Irish characters and language." — Vol. 3.

" In the Annals of the Monastery of Innisfail, the author lightly touches
on universal history, from the creation of the world to the year of our
Lord 430. After this he describes, with great accuracy, Irish affairs to
the year of our Lord 1215, in which he lived." — Vol. 26.

The learned Abbe M' Geoghegan, a French ecclesiastic, who wrote
his History of Ireland, in Paris, in the close of the seventeenth century,
which he dedicated to the " Irish brigade," who followed the fortunes
of Sarsfield and King James to France, and who enlisted in the military
service of that country, says, " The late king of England, James the. Sec-
ond, had a large manuscript volume in folio, called Leahar Lecan, taken
from the library of Trinity College, Dublin ; it was afterwards, by order
of the prince, who had an act passed before notaries for the purpose, de-
posited in the archives of the Irish College, in Paris, and" is carefully
preserved. The style of this manuscript is so concise, and the words
so abridged, that it is difficult to find any among the learned in that
language able to decipher it.

" The translator of Keating's History into English, printed at Dublin,
in 1723, and afterwards in London, informs us, in his preface, that there
is in the library of Trinity College, in the same city, among other mon-
uments, a volume, in folio, written upon parchment many centuries
ago ; that this volume contains extracts from the Psalters of Tara,
Cashel, Armagh, and other monuments of antiquity ; and in order to
obtain the reading of it for six months, that he had been obliged to sive
security to the amount of one thousand pounds sterling. Would he
have dared to publish and to have printed, in the same city, that account,
and give the name of Dr. Raymond, during his lifetime, who had been,
he says, his security, if he feared that he could be contradicted ? That
is not probable.

"The monuments to which we have been alluding, besides many
others preserved in the cabinets of some lords of the country, are frag-

108 FIRST BRITISH HISTORIANS. GILDAS. BEDE.

ments that have escaped the fury of the Danes and Saxons ; they can
be compared to inscriptions engraven upon columns injured by time,
which are at present useless in a country where the language is in its
decline. From such sources, those who have treated of the subject
within the last two centuries have been supplied : when the language
was better understood than at present, it was then possible to consult
these monuments ; but those opportunities will disappear the more as
time advances." See note at page 128.

The first British author, of whom we have any account, is Gildas
Britannicus, surnamed the Wise, who wrote in the sixth century a
treatise De Excidio Britannia. He seems to doubt if his country-
men, the ancient Britons, left any monuments or manuscripts ; for he
says he was obliged to follow, in his writings, the accounts given of
his country by foreigners ; which is true enough ; for Julius Caesar,
who landed in Britain about fifty years before the birth of Christ, was
the first person who made any written historical memorial of the
inhabitants of Britain. He describes them as being numerous, divided
into wandering tribes, without settled habitations, destitute of govern-
ment, laws, or letters. They drove their flocks from pasture to pas-
ture, and followed them for subsistence. Arts or manufactures they
had none ; they were clothed in the skins of animals, and painted their
bodies blue. They were conquered by Caesar, and subjected to the
sway of Rome without much difficulty ; under that power they
remained for four centuries. "Whatever events grew up in Britain,
during all that time, were recorded by the historians of Rome.

After Gildas came the Venerable Bede. He was a Saxon ecclesias-
tic, who wrote historical records of England, about the year 730 of the
Christian era ; his references to Ireland are frequent and truthful. But
the man who stands conspicuous on the page of time, as the historian
and traducer of Ireland, is Gerald Barry, commonly called Giraldus
Cambrensis ; he was the first stranger who undertook to write a history
of Ireland. Giraldus was a Welsh priest, who followed the fortunes of
his relatives and friends, in their invasions of Ireland, from 1169 to
1171. Henry the Second of England had made claim to the Irish soil,
at the court of Rome ; he represented the Irish people to Pope Adrian
(an Englishman) as destitute of religion, law, morals, or government ; and
to support this representation, with a view to induce the pope to join his
cause, he employed Giraldus to write his book. The popes of that epoch
bad much temporal power awarded to them by the nations of Europe.
They were, by a kind of universal consent, referred to as arbiters in all

CAMBRENSIS. FALSEHOODS IN HIS WORK. 109

national or princely disputes. Their decisions were bowed to with
implicit obedience by the whole Christian world. Hence the anxiety
of Henry to procure a corrupt witness against Ireland, which Giraldus
proved himself to be. It appeared that Henry obtained a clandestine
bull from Pope Adrian, which (though the genuineness of this document
has been disputed by O'Connell and others) conferred authority on
Henry to invade Ireland, and force it into subjection to England, and,
through the English monarch, more immediately than it had been, to
the Pope.

To sustain the king, Cambrensis wrote his History of Ireland. He
was only twice in Ireland, once with the adventurers under Strongbow,
and once with Prince John, the son of Henry tbe Second, both visits
not occupying more than eighteen months ; he only saw about one
third of the country ; he, or his, durst proceed no farther ; he under-
stood not the language, of the people, to whom he was a total stranger,
and could not, therefore, consult the records of their ancient archives ;
he was obliged to substitute inventions, and tales, picked up after the
manner of our modern travellers, for historical facts ; he mixed only
with the most common and illiterate, and such tales as he obtained
from the lowest, he distorted and mixed up with the most ridiculous
inventions of his own, representing the people as little better than bar-
barians, and their civilization by conquest a meritorious act.

Cambrensis v^Tote five books in Latin ; the first three he called
the " Topography of Ireland ; " the last two, " Ireland conquered by
Henry the Second." He spent five years composing these books,
which he read before the learned doctors and people of Oxford, after
the example of Herodotus, who read his History of Egypt before the
Greeks. Cambrensis, in order to run his concoction down the throats
of his hearers, resorted to the aid of sweets and sugar-plums. He
treated the whole town splendidly for three days ; the first day was
appropriated to the populace ; the second, to the doctors, professors,
and principal scholars of the university ; and, lastly, on the third day,
he regaled the other scholars, soldiers, and citizens of the town, — "a
noble and brilliant action," says Cambrensis himself, "whereby the
ancient custom of the poets has been, for the first time, renewed in
England." The History of Ireland, written by this half-witted caluui-
niator, represents the River Shannon as discharging itself into the North,
Sea, whereas it discharges itself into the South or Atlantic. He scarcely
mentions who were the first inhabitants of Ireland ; as to the Scoto-

110 FALSEHOODS EXPOSED AND ADMITTED.

Milesians, who were the peaceful possessors of it for two thousand
years, he gives no account whatever, either of their government,
laws, battles, or inventions ; he says, indeed, there had been one hun-
dred and eighty-one aionarchs of that race before his time, but does
not give us so much as their names.

Such was the authority, on which the majority of subsequent English
writers have deprived Ireland of her two thousand years of literature
and glory. The learned Ahhe MGeoghegan, from whom, in O'Kel-
ly's translation, I have condensed some of the foregoing, asks, with
great force, " Have not the Irish an equal right to complain of him, as
Josephus [in his first book against Appion] complains of some Greek
authors, who undertook to compose the history of the Jewish war, the
destruction of Jerusalem, and captivity of the Jews, from hearsay,
without having ever been in the country, or seen the things of which
they wrote, and who, he said, impudently assurited to themselves the
title of hjstorians ? "

But, even during the lifetime of Cambrensis, those contemptible
fictions of his were exposed, and he was made to feel the stings of
conscience so keenly as to prompt him to make a public confession of
the incorrectness of his books. He did recant, in an apology, published
in a second edition of his work, the Conquest of Ireland, and in a
treatise styled Recantation. He acknowledged that, though he had
learned, from men of that country worthy of belief, many things which
he mentions, he had followed the reports of the vulgar in too many
instances. Sir James Ware, the learned Irish antiquarian, speaks
of the works of Cambrensis thus : " Many things concerning Ireland
could be noticed in this place as fabulous, which Cambrensis hath
heaped together in his Topography ; to analyze or descant upon each
would require a whole tract. Caution should be particularly applied
by the reader to his Topography, which Giraldus himself confesses. 1
cannot hut express my surprise, how men, now-a-days otherioise grave
and learned, have obtruded on the world the fictions of Giraldus for
truths.''^

Men " grave and learned " have adopted, age after age, the false-
hoods of Cambrensis ; have added to these falsehoods, and have piled
them up with unblushing effrontery : for this they have been well re-
warded with fat places and easy chairs by the British government ; and
the worst of it is, there are plenty of " grave and learned men," in our
day, who pursue the self-same course in reference to unhappy Ireland,

ENGLISH HISTORIANS. Ill

and who are rewarded by the self-same power that instigated and re-
warded Cambrensis. The works of this false witness lay buried in
obscurity for four hundred years, until republished by Camden, at
Frankfort, in 1602; and thus was the poison generated anew through
the mind of Europe. Those old, confronted, and discredited falsehoods
were reproduced by the host of calumniators, who grew up after, die
reformation, and who methodically and unblushingly followed Cam-
brensis, building up their histories on his fictions ; for the same motives
that actuated Cambrensis, in the twelfth century, have guided the pens
of most of the English historians of Ireland since the refonnation.
Hanmer, Campion, Spenser, Camden, and Leland, are amongst the
most conspicuous of the English defamers of Ireland ; whilst it must be
confessed, with deep humility, that Ireland herself has vomited forth
monstrosities, who have undertaken, for English pay, to disparage and
vilify the glorious, though oppressed, land that bore them. Of these
in their places.

" Sir James Ware," says the abbe, " begins his antiquities of Ireland
with the. reign of Laogare, and the apostleship of St. Patrick. Why
he has not taken them from an earlier epoch, he assigns, as a reason, that
most of what had been written concerning the predecessors of that mon-
arch was exceedingly mixed with fables and anachronisms. Two things
in this must be observed ; first, that, from the acknowledgment of the
author, there were some kings the predecessors of Laogare, and monu-
ments which speak of them ; second, that these monuments were mixed
with fable and anachronisms. I have no doubt but his criticism is
just ; this is a fault common to all ancient histories. What can be
known of antiquity, if all history be rejected which contains any thing
that may be false, fabulous, or supposed ? Is not Herodotus, the father
of history, called also the father of falsehood ? Why has he put forth
things that are doubtful, nay, untrue, according to Manetho, in regard to
Egypt and the Egyptians, upon the testimony of Vulcan's priests,
whom he had met with at Memphis ? Is he correct in the accounts he
gives of the manners and customs of the Scythians, Amazons, and
other countries, from hearsay ? Have the author of the Cyropsedia,
Titus Livy, Quintus Curtius, and others, been free from the lash of
criticism ? Have the more modern historians, Camden, Buchanan, De
Thou, Mezeray, and Pere d'Orleans, escaped censure ? Is not Vol-
taire convicted of repeated mistakes in his Age of Louis the Four-
teenth, in his History of Charles the Twelfth, and in his History of the
Empire ?

112 IRELAND HAS A BETTER TITLE TO ANTIQUITY THAN ROME.

" Can we not with justice say that Ware was not a fit judge in the
affair ? He did not know the primitive language of Ireland, so as to be
able to explore the first periods of its history ; he had no opportunity
of consulting the Psalters of Teamour, (Tara,) and other monuments,
necessary for such an undertaking ; he saw but some books of annals,
written half in Latin and half in Irish, the dates whereof ran no higher
than the Christian era ; in a word, every thing, antecedent to that period,
is accused by him of containing fable and anachronisms ; by these
means he exonerates himself from making the researches to which he
did not feel himself competent.

" It is further objected, that, because the Romans, and also the
Greeks, had not historians more ancient than Herodotus, who lived
about four hundred years before the Christian era, the pretensions
of the Milesians, with respect to the epoch of their history, cannot be
maintained.

" Josephus, in his book against Appion, asserts that, to have a knowl-
edge of antiquity, we must not seek it among the Greeks, whose
writings, he says, are imperfect, new, and doubtful ; it appears, there-
fore, that history was not the ruling passion of that people, although
polished in other respects. "^

" As to the Romans, they are more modern. The use of letters,
says Livy, was rare among the ancient Romans, the memory being
their only depository of time, in the first ages of the republic. If their
priests in succeeding ages, transmitted some monuments, they were lost
in the burning of the city ; and, if we attach belief to Vossius on the
subject, Fabius Pictor was the first who wrote the history of the re-
public, in the year of Rome 485.

" Orpheus of Crotona, in his poem of the Argonauts, and Aristotle,
in his book of the World, dedicated to. Alexander, make mention of
Ireland, under the name of lerna, from whence Usher takes the oppor-
tunity of saying, ' that the Romans could produce no testimony so
authentic for the antiquity of their name.' The comparison of Usher
is not made in allusion to the soil or land of Rome, nor to that of
Ireland, the two countries being in that respect of equal antiquity ; the
question is with respect to those who inhabited the tivo countries, of
which we have a more authentic testimony for their antiquity than the
other : thus, in the opinion of Usher, the Scoto-Milesians had a better
title to antiquity than the Romans.

" The strength of this reasoning will be felt still more forcibly, if,
with Camden, we consider that the name lerna, and others, which

ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS OF IRELAND. 113

Strangers give to that island, are derived from Eire, ' ah Erin ergo
gentis vocahulo originatio pretenda ; ' a name which has been peculiar
to it since the Scoto-Milesians have been in possession of the island,
and which is derived from Ire, one of their ancient chiefs. If it be
then allowed us to think, with Usher, that the Scoto-Milesians were
established in Ireland before the Roman name was known, we may
likewise suppose that, from being a lettered people, the dates of their
histories are much higher than those of the Romans."

The existing manuscripts which treat of Ireland are, indeed, more
voluminous than those of all the rest of Europe put together. How
many authentic manuscripts are there remaining in the libraries of the
Vatican at Rome, of the king at Paris, and in the Bodleian library at
Oxford, which were never published ? The history of Ireland rests on
the concurring testimony of Jjfiy different records, each of which,
though differing in object, has an essential connection one with the
other. These records are all, or nearly all, written in the Irish lan-
guage and character. It ought to satisfy us that Keating, Colgan,
Gratianus [Lynch,] Bruodine, O'Flaherty, O'Halloran, Sir William
Betham, and many others, who made use of, and understood, the Irish
Innguage and manuscripts, can warrant them, and say that they bear
every mark of the remotest antiquity, and that the extracts which they
give from them are faithful. I make a further summary, from the
Abbe M'Geoghegan and other writers, of the authors who have written
on Ireland before our time.

The authors who have, in the last three centuries, given their
attention to the history of Ireland, and that are best known, are Peter
Lombard, Keating, Messingham, O'SuUivan, Ward, Clery, Roth,
Usher, Colgan, Ware, Bruodine, Gratianus Lucius, Belling, Walsh,
O'Flaherty, O'Reilly, Porter, Molyneux, Kennedy, O'Halloran, &c.

Peter Lombard was born in Waterford, and, being brought up
from his youth at Westminster, under the eyes of the learned Camden,
he displayed great proofs of capacity for the sciences ; he afterwards
came to Louvain, where he completed his studies, and received the doc-
tor's cap. The provostship of the cathedral of Cambray was after-
wards conferred on him ; lastly, he was appointed archbishop of
Armagh, and primate of Ireland. Among his other works, he has left a
commentary, in Latin, on the history of Ireland, which was highly
esteemed, and was printed after his death, in quarto, at Louvain, in 1632.

Geoffrey Keating was born in Ireland, in the sixteenth century,
during the reign of Queen Elizabeth : being intended for the ecclesias-
15

114 IRISH AND OTHER AUTHORS OF THE LAST THREE CENTURIES.

tical state, he left his country, in consequence of the persecutions that
were carried on against the Catholics, and came to France, where he
received the degree of doctor in theology. Returning afterwards to
his native country, and being perfect master of the Irish language, he
collected every thing that was possible for him, from the ancient
monuments of Ireland, and formed the design of reducing them into
the shape of history. Two motives induced him to undertake it, as he
himself says in his preface — first, to draw from obscurity a people
who were equally ancient as they were generous and noble, by pre-
serving from the ravages of time a methodical histoiy of their monu-
ments ; secondly, to develop the injustice of some authors, who,
without consulting them, propagate against the Irish their false pro-
ductions, which may be termed satires rather than history. He adds,
that every thing which he advances in favor of Ireland arises from his
love for truth, and that his testimony should not be suspected, being
himself of English origin. This qualification, however, raised suspi-
cions from many quarters against him, particularly in the provinces
of Connaught and Ulster, where he was denied access to their
documents.

This history, written in the Irish language, which was principally
spoken at that time, has been since translated into English, and become
thereby open to criticism. Those who think themselves interested in
degrading the Irish people, whose antiquity appears to them insupport-
able, severely censure the history of Keating ; while others, more moder-
ate and impartial, consider it a valuable collection of antiquities. It
must, however, be acknowledged, that, if the English translation of this
history be a faithful one, — which is not very certain, — there are many
anachronisms in the work, and accounts which seem to be fabulous and
absurd tales. However, these should be attributed rather to the cre-
dulity of the author, who has too closely followed, on some occasions,
the fictions of the ancient bards, than to any previous intention of de-
grading the history, of the Irish nation. Among all its defects we
discover many good and interesting things, which make that work
essentially useful : provided it be read with caution, much information
may be derived with respect to the origin of the Milesians, their
establishment in the island, their wars, government, and the succession
of their kings.

Thomas Messingham, a priest, and native of the province of
Leinster, also apostolical prothonotary, and superior of a community of
Iiish in Paris, published, in that city, in 1624, a small folio volume in

O'SULLIVAN. WARD. o'cLEARY. 115

Latin, entitled Florilegium InsnJa. Sanctorum; it contains the lives
of many of the Irish saints, taken from the best authors.

Philip O'Sullivan, a gentleman of the noble family of O'Sullivan
Barry, in the county of Cork, being compelled by the misfortune of
the times, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, to fly from his country,
withdrew to Spain, where, after having completed his stodies at
Compostella, he composed several works in Latin ; amongst others, an
abridgment of the history of Ireland, vvliich had for its title Historica.
CathoUca Hibernice Compendium, dedicated to Philip the Fourth,
king of Spain, and printed at Lisbon, in 162L The fabulous account
of St. Patrick's purgatory, introduced into his history, after the Viscount
Lamon de Parellos, a Spanish lord, has been injurious to it. In his
description of the island, its antiquities, the invasion of the English, the
fifteen years' war under Queen Elizabeth, and the persecution under
James the First, he appears to be correct. He has drawn upon him-
self the censure of Usher, who treats him as a faithless author, on
account of a tract written* against him, under the title of Archicomi-
geromastix.

Hugh Ward, or Wardens, a native of the county Donegal, in Ulster,
was first brought up at Salamanca, w here he became one of the order
of St. Francis, in 1616 ; he afterwards completed his studies at Paris,
from whence he was called, and nominated lecturer in theology, and
afterwards warden, at Louvain. As he was very learned and versed in
antiquity, he took the resolution to write a universal history of the
saints of his own country. For that object he sent Michael O'Cleary, a
monk of his order, to collect materials necessary for it. In the mean
time, he composed several works that were afterwards very useful to
John Colgan, who undertook, after his death, to finish his intended
history.

Michael O'Cleary, a native of the province of Ulster, and monk
of the order of St. Francis, was sent, as has been observed, into Ire-
land, by Ward, to make the researches necessary for the work he had
contemplated. This monk performed his commission with all possible
attention, without his patron having derived from it any benefit, being
prevented by death.

O'Cleary, having formed a taste for that kind of employment,
troublesome indeed, but very useful to the public, and being joined by
other antiquarians of the country, particularly Ferfessius O'Conry,
Peregrin O'Cleary, and Peregrin O'Dubgennan, collected a quantity
of materials to serve for an ecclesiastical and civil history, and reduced

116 ANNALS OF THE FOUR MASTERS. USHER.

them into order. Some ancient monuments he purged, by comparing
them with old manuscripts, of the errors which had crept in by the
ignorance of the copyists.

The first of these monuments is an historical abridgment of the
Irish kings, their reign and succession, their genealogies and death.

The second is a tract on the genealogies of their saints, called
Sanctilogium genealogicuin .

The third treats of the first inhabitants, and different conquests of
that island, the succession of her kings, their wars, and other remark-
able events, from the deluge until the arrival of the English in the twelfth
century. This book is called Leabhar Gabhaltas."

The erudite John O'Donovan has as follows: — "The O'Clerj^s
commenced the compilation of these Annals on the 22d of Janu-
ary, 1632, and completed their task on the 18th of August, 1636.
The authorities collated and abstracted into this compilation are
enumerated in the testimonium prefixed to the Annals, and given
under the hands of the guardian and brotherhood of the monastery.
Of the work so produced there appear to have been four transcripts, all
of which, in whole or in part, have come down to the present day.
The first volume of the copy executed for O'Gara, after having been
carried into Spain by his son, Colonel O'Gara, came ultimately into the
possession of the venerable Charies O'Conor, by whose grandson, Dr.
O'Conor, it was deposited at Siowe, where it still remains. Another
copy, complete, transcribed for the use of the truly learned John Col-
gan, was by him bequeathed, with his other manuscript collections on
Irish history and hagiology, to his convent at Louvain. O'Flaherty,.
author of Ogygia, had a tliird copy, the second volume of which,
wanting a century at the commencement, is now preserved in the library
of Trinity College, Dublin. The second volume, complete, of a fourth
copy, which seems to have been executed for the use of the O'Clerys
themselves, and contains the original dedication and testimonium in the
proper hand-writing of the respective parties, having come into the pos-
session of the late Austin Cooper, Esq., was purchased at the sale of his
library by George Petrie, Esq., of this city, and by him the purchase
was generously transferred to the Royal Irish Academy, the ultimate
depository and faithful preserver of this, as of many of the other remain-
ing evidences of the learning, piety, and patriotic zeal, of the Irish peo-
ple in past ages." Mr. O'D. is now translating this work.

James Usher, or Usserius, was a native of Dublin, and well known,
in the republic of letters, by his erudition and the great number of

. WARE. COLGAN. 117

his works, which are a proof of it. The writings of this learned man,
that have any reference to our history, are his Veterum Epistolarum
Hibernicanim Sylloge, and Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates.
The first contains fifty letters upon the Irish people, with some notes
from the editor. This small volume was printed first in Dublin, in
1630, and reprinted at Paris, 1665. The second, which was printed
at Dublin in 1639, and at London in 1687, treats of the origin of
British churches.

John Colgan, a native of the county Donegal, in Ulster, and monk
of the order of St. Francis, in the convent of St. Anthony of Padua,
at Louvain, where he was professor in theology, was learned in the
language and antiquities of his country ; he undertook to write the
lives of the Irish saints, and was the more capable of undertaking it
from being aided by the researches which Ward had made with
the same intention. In 1645, a volume in folio was published by him
at Louvain ; it contained the lives of the saints for the first three
months of the year, under the tide of Acta Sanctorum Veteris et
Majoris Scotut. A second volume was published at Louv^ain, in 1647,
which had for its title Triadis Thaumaturgce, he. ; it contained the
lives of St. Patrick, St. Columb, and St. Bridget. We have like-
wise a treatise from him on the country, life, and writings, of John
Scot, called the subtle doctor, printed in octavo, at Antwerp, in 1655.
There are, in fine, many manuscript volumes, at Louvain, of this author,
which speak of the apostleship and mission of many Irish saints in
foreign countries.

Sir James Ware, or Wareus, a native of Dublin, made many
researches useful to the history of Ireland, both in the registries and
cloisters of the churches and monasteries of the country, and in the
libraries of England. He published first, in Dublin, in 1639, a treatise,
in Latin, upon the Irish writers. In 1654 and 1658, he had the
antiquities of Ireland published in London, under the tide of De Hiber-
nia et Antiquitatibus ejus Disquisitiones. In fine, he has furnished a
commentary on the Irish prelates, from the conversion of that country
down to his time. This work has been printed at Dublin, in 1665,
under the title of De Prasulibus Hibemia Commentarius. All these
have been translated into English, and printed in folio, at London, in
1705, to which is subjoined a discourse from Sir John Davis, who was
attorney-general to James the First, wherein he examines into the
cause of the delay of the conquest of Ireland by the English. Ware's
researches on the foundation of the churches, the names and succession

1 18 BRUODINE. LYNCH. BELLING. WALSH. o'fLAHERTY.

of their prelates, the establishment of monasteries and religious houses,
and the learned writers of that country, are extremely interesting. His
works, which relate to Ireland, from the invasion of the English, are in
general excellent, and worthy a man of his merit ; but his treatise on its
antiquities is of small moment ; he was not sufficiently acquainted with
its language to be able to consult the monuments of that people, so
that he has, at a small expense, acquired for himself the title of anti-
quarian.

Anthony Bruodine, a native of the county Clare, in Ireland, was a
Recollet and professor in theology, in the convent of that order at
Prague. Among other works he composed a volume in quarto, enti-
tled Propugnaculum CatholiccB Veritatis, Pars Primq historica, &tc.,
printed at Prague, in 1668.

John Lynch, priest and archdeacon of Tuam, and native of Gal-
way, in Connaught, was learned in the language of his country, and
ably conversant in all kinds of literature. The troubles produced to
his country by the war of the parliamentarians, and tyranny of Crom-
well, obliged him to leave it. In 1652, he came to France, and pub-
lished, among other works, a volume in folio, printed in 1662, under
the title of Cambrensis Eversus, and under the borrowed name of
Gratianus Lucius. Our author, with much judgment and solidity, refutes
the calumnies that Cambrensis had advanced against his country.

Sir Richard Belling, a"native of the county Dublin, has left us a
volume in duodecimo, printed in Latin, at Paris, in 1650, under the title
of Vmdicarum Catholicontm Hibernice Libri duo, and under the bor-
rowed name of Philopater Ireneeus. In the first book of this volume
we discover a sufficiently exact account of the affairs of Ireland, from
the year 1641 till 1649. The second is a refutation of a work written
by a monk named Paul King, on Irish affairs.

Peter Walsh was a native of Moortown. in the county Kildare.
Being admitted into the order of St. Francis, he studied at Louvain,
where he became professor of theology. He begins with the history of
the country, to end it with the twelfth century ; but though the recital
of facts contained in it be sufficiently correct, still the want of order and
system discoverable makes the reading of it irksome. The second part,
which he promised, has never appeared.

Roderick O'Flaherty, an Irish gentleman, was born at Moycullin, in
the county Galway ; it was the patrimony of his ancestors for many
ages, but confiscated in the troubles which had 'arisen in 1641 ; he was
a man of letters, and profoundly skilled in the history of his own and

o'rEILLT. PORTER. ALLEMAND. 119

foreign countries. He has left us a large volume, in Latin, composed
from the most authentic monuments, and which he dedicated to the
Duke of York, who soon afterwards became king of Great Britain, un-
der the name of James the Second. It was printed in quarto, at London,
in 1685, under the title of Ogygia, wherein he treats of the ancient
history of Ireland, before Christianity. In this book he displays great
erudition, and a deep knowledge of chronology, as appears from the
testimony of two great men, Loftus and Belling, whose approvals are
found printed at the head of his work. Stillingfleet also cites him with
eulogy.

Hugh O'Reilly, an Irish gentleman, and native of the county Cavan,
was master in the court of chancery, and register to the council under
James the Second. Having followed the fortunes of that prince into
France, he was nominated his chancellor for the kingdom of Ireland.
In 1693, O'Reilly published a small volume in English, which has for
its title, Ireland's Case briefly stated, that is to say, an abridgment of
the state of Ireland, since the reformation, wherein the things which hap-
pened in that country are represented without disguise. He reproaches
Charles the Second with want of gratitude to his Irish subjects for their
services : he shows the injustice and bad policy of that prince, for having
confirmed the murderers of the king, his father, in their possessions and
"wealth, as rewards for their regicide ; the old proprietors were, for those
objects, stripped of theii- fortunes, whose only crime was their faithful
allegiance to their king. He speaks, in fine, like a man who, in pleading
his own cause, pleads that of his country. His complaints, it appears,
were well founded ; whereas the king, his master, to whom he communi-
cated the purport of his writings, before they would be printed, was
pleased to say, that "they contained but too many truths."

Francis Porter, a native of the county of Meath, and monk of the
order of St. Francis, was for a long time professor of theology in the
College of St. Isidore, at Rome, and president of it for some time.
Among other works he has left us a volume in Latin, and printed in
quarto, at Rome, in 1690, under the title of Compendium Annalium
Ecchsiasticarum Regni Hihernia. After his description of the king-
dom, and a list of its kings, he speaks of the war of the Danes ; the
remainder relates to the affairs of the church.

Louis Augustin AUemand, a lawyer in the parliament of Paris,
published in that city, in 1690, UHistoire Monastique d'Irlwide, in
the French language, and dedicated it to James the Second, king of
Great Britain and Ireland, The learned author follows, with great exact-

120 MOLYNEUX. o'kENNEDY. HARRIS.

ness, those who have written on the same subject before him ; namely.
Usher, Ware, Colgan, and others ; and it can be affirmed, that, for a
stranger, who had never seen the country of which he writes, his work
is very correct.

WilHam Molyneux was born in Dubhn, and has pubhshed many
excellent works. Amongst others, one upon the State of Ireland,
was dedicated by him to the Prince of Orange: he proves in it that
that country was never conquered by Henry the Second ; that he grant-
ed, according to treaty, a parliament and laws to such of the people of
Ireland as resided in his pale ; that the ecclesiastical state in that country
was independent of England, and that the English could not bind the
Irish by laws made where the people had not their deputies.

Matthew O'Kennedy, an Irish gentleman, and doctor of laws, mas-
ter in the court of chancery, and judge of the admiralty, in Ireland, has
^Yritten a small volume in English, printed at Paris, in 1705: it contains
an historical and chronological dissertation on the royal family of the
Stuarts, who are (he says) of Irish descent, through the colonies that
were sent at different periods into Albania. This treatise has not
escaped criticism ; it has been abused by Father De la Haye, an Anglo-
Scotchman, in a letter to the Duke of Perth, wherein there are more
invectives against Kennedy and his country than proofs against his
dissertation, the object of his attacks, as appears by Kennedy's reply, in
the shape of a letter, to what De la Haye had advanced. This was
printed at Paris, in French , in 1715, with the letter of that father sub-
joined to it.

Walter Harris, counsellor, has published two volumes, in folio, in
English, on the history of Ireland, under the tide of the Works of
Sir James W^are on Ireland, revised and augmented. The first volume
was printed at Dublin in 17.39, and the second in 1745; a third, which
he had promised, never appeared. The Irish people are deeply indebt-
ed to this learned man, for the pains he has bestowed, and the interesting
researches he has made to complete that work, which he has considera-
bly enlarged, and enriched with many tracts that escaped the vigilance
of his prototype, and which merit for liim the title of author, instead of
editor, which he has modestly taken.

The Dissertations upon the ancient history of Ireland, given in English
by an anonymous writer, and published at Dublin, in 1753, through the
care of Michael Reilly, display an extensive knowledge in the antiqui-
ties of that country. This work is flowery in its style, and the matter
handled with peculiar delicacy arid neatness. The writer was among

LELAND. WARNER. CORRY. m'gEOGHEGAN. 121

the first of those who began to breathe truth about Ireland, at a period
when the tyrannic chain of England held her in silence. This author
was the learned Q'Conor of Belenagar.

Dr. Thomas Leland was born in Dublin, 1722. He was educated in
the school of Dr. Sheridan, so famous for giving brilliant scholars to the
world. He became a fellow of Trinity College, and a clergyman of
the established church. On the lieutenancy of Lord Townsend, in Ire-
land, 1768, he was made castle chaplain to that nobleman. Having
gathered some materials for a history of Ireland, he ventured to give
them to the world. From the slanders of Cambrensis, Cox, Temple,
and other defamers of his country, he drew his supplies. To vilify the
creed of his fathers seemed to be his chief object, for he was a parson of
that "Establishment" which had possessed itself of the property of the
believers in the old creed ; and he w^s the pampered tool of that
Orange faction which so often steeped his country in its bravest blood.
His history covers the period from the reign of Henry the Second, 1172,
to that of William the Third, 1691. Dr. Johnson said of him that " he
began his history of Ireland too late," for he despatched two thousand
years of ancient Irish history in a few pages of " introduction." Plow-
den says of him, "The late Dr. Ijcland is well known to have written
his history of Ireland for a bishopric, which he never attained." He
died in 1785.

Warner, an Englishman of more justice and greater industry, has
written much of Ireland, her ancient story, and her high antiquity. He
acknowledges that " Ireland had the start of the Britons, for many ages,
in arts and sciences, in learning and in laws."

Curry, an Irishman, wrote, in the middle of the eighteentii century, a
history of the civil wars of Ireland, which embraces that period covered
by the reigns of Elizabeth, James the First, Charles the First, Cromwell,
Charles the Second, James the Second. It is an able work, and one
which has fully vindicated Ireland from the charges of cruelty in those
unfortunate struggles, which had been so plentifully heaped on her by
Leland and others.

The Abbe M'Geoghegan, who was of Irish descent, wrote, in Paris,
a very able, though brief history of Ireland, which he brought down to
his own time, namely, the close of the seventeenth century. This work
was compiled from a variety of Irish manuscripts and other records,
brought to France by the leading Irish exiles, before and after the fall
of James the Second. He dedicated his work to the " Irish brigade,"
then in the service of Louis the Fifteenth, a legion composed of the Irish
16

122 THE YOUNGER o'cONOR. LEDWICH.

refugees in France, who, after the example of the glorious Sarsfield,
enlisted in the French king's service, and, single-handed, defeated the
English frequently. This work has been lately translated by Mr.
O'Kelly, and republished in Ireland, in a very able manner, by Mr.
Duffy. I am indebted to it for much valuable matter not to be found
in other publications.

Dr. O'Conor, of Belenagar, wrote his Dissertations on Irish his-
tory in about 1750 : the work purposed to be only a series of papers
on ancient Ireland. Mr. O'Conor had in his possession very many
ancient historical manuscripts, and other records, which came to him
from his ancestors, who were of the royal line of O'Conor, kings of
Ireland — the possession of which enabled him to give to the world a
most important volume. It is to be regretted that his grandson, the late
Dr. O'Conor, found himself necessitated to part with all those invaluable,
those truly national records. He sold them to the English Duke of
Buckingham, the owner of the celebrated library of Stowe, where they
now remain in hondage, somewhat like the country of which they tell.
Dr. O'Conor undertook, while enjoying the patronage and friendship of
the Duke of Buckingham, to write a history of Ireland, based upon the
foundation laid by his grandfather. This work has been censured by
some of the most patriotic of our modern historians and writers, for its
imperfect presentation of the noble superstructure of Irish history. It
was written under English influence, and for English booksellers, and it
is not uncharitable to suppose that, written and published under such cir-
cumstances, its tone is subdued and its style pliant. However, the pub-
lication of the doctor's work in England did great good, for it attracted
the attention of such men as the late Sir James Mackintosh, who de-
clared, after perusing it, that " Dr. O'Conor had exhibited proofs which
showed that the Irish nation were possessed of laws and letters, arts and
sciences, centuries before the British had yet emerged from barbarism."
If Dr. O'Conor's book did no more than draw this admission from so
learned and eminent a man, it has not been written in vain.

Dr. Ledwich, an Irishman, undertook to present the historical features
of his country, and has so greatly distorted them that Ireland disowns
his work, and repudiates his authority. He has. been proved to be a
false witness against his native land, and must be classed with the mon-
ster, or rather the reptile race, that seem to be yet uneradicated from the
Irish soil. Ledwich was originally a Catholic, but became a Protestant
for the sake of the loaves and fishes which awaited his apostasy ; to sus-
tain or countenance which, he calumniated his former creed, and tra-
duced his country.

SCULLY. VALLANCEY. o'hALLORAN. 123

Mr. Scully, an Irish gentleman of Tipperary, wrote, in the middle of
the eighteenth centuiy, a powerful and well-digested account of the
" penal laws." It made a tremendous impression on the minds of the
Roman Catholics of Ireland and England, for it held a faithful mirror to
the body, political and social, and affrighted them to that activity which
eventuated in the formation of the first Catholic committee. That com-
mittee was the acorn, from which has grown the majestic oak of Irish
agitation. Mr. Scully, Mr. Wyse, (father of the present accomplished
Thomas Wyse, member for Waterford,) and I\Ir. O'Conor of Belenagar,
formed the first glorious triumviri who agitated for liberty, though laden
with the chains of the oppressor. Though their agitation produced
nothing, they transmitted the duty and trust which they assumed to the
succeeding generation. Henry Grattan, the patriotic John Keogh, and
the great-minded but unfortunate Theobald Wolfe Tone, with others,
took up and carried on the great cause, and succeeded, in 1793, in
striking off the first series of Ireland's galling chains.

Colonel Vallancey, an Englishman, an enthusiastic antiquarian, devo-
ted his mind to the study of Ireland's ancient history, and her antiquities.
To him she offered unexplored mines of the richest ore. He was em-
ployed as an architect and engineer to erect fortifications round the Irish
coast. His wealth and opportunities enabled him to gratify his taste, and
he entered on the great work with extraordinary zeal. He not only
studied the history of Ireland, but her ancient language also ; and em-
ployed some of the best Irish scholars he could procure to assist him in
the meritorious labor of unravelling the tangled hank of her antiquities.
He went so far as to prepare and publish a brief glossary or dictionary
of the Irish language, as spoken in Wexford, and in some other parts of
Ireland ; and it must be acknowledged that he rendered, as far as his
necessarily limited acquaintance with the Irish language permitted, a
valuable addition to the already existing enormous stock of materials
for a comprehensive history of Ireland.

Dr. Sylvester O'Halloran, a native of the county Limerick, in Ireland,
a gentleman of ancient family, and of great literary attainments, published,
by subscription, about the year 1786, the first part of what he designed
to be a comprehensive history of Ireland. Being a profound Irish
scholar, besides a thorough patriot and philanthropist, he infused into the
work, as far as it went, all the dignity, eloquence, and research, which
characterize the writers of the most refined ages, ancient or modern.
Unfortunately, he did not carry his history farther than the twelfth cen-
tury : death shortened a hfe devoted to the perpetuation of the history

124

PLOWDEN.

of his country — a fate which, by some special destiny, prematurely
overtook many other men who engaged in the same laborious work !
His book is a splendid and truthful one as far as it goes. He had
had the advantage of the zealous and learned labors of the very
many erudite men who wrote before him; and it is creditable to the
Irish character that, in a period just emerging from the gloom of the
penal code, under whose terrible influence the intellect of Ireland was
darkened, so powerful a writer as O'Halloran just then made his appear-
ance, who flung out on the world a brilliant reflection of the almost
departed rays of Ireland's renown and glory. O'Halloran, full of ac-
quired lore, apposite similes, and biographical anecdote, frequently
suspends his narrative while he empties his full-charged mind upon the
page. His digressions for that reason are, though always interesting,
sometimes inconveniently long ; which effaces or disturbs the order of
historical facts in the reader's mind. This, I think, is the only fault
which can be alleged against the work. It is otherwise a splendid pro-
duction, sustained by authority, enlightened by reason, enriched by a
wondrous gathering of facts, and adorned by a beautiful style, which
continues its elevated tone from the beginning to the end. These com-
bined properties of O'Halloran's work justified Pepper in denominating
him the Irish Livy.

Joseph C. Walker, a native of Dublin, wrote an historical memoir of
the Irish bards, Irish music, instruments, weapons, &.C., published in
1786. Mr. Walker's was the first effort to gather into an historical
record the interesting reminiscences of Irish poetry and music. Walker
acknowledges himself indebted to many eminent men of Ireland, for
various papers and essays of inestimable value. These are published,
in his work, under the signatures of the various learned and tasteful
contributors, which include the names of O'Conor, O'Halloran, Val-
lancey, Beauford, Hawkins, Dr.. Young, Archdale, Ousley, &ic. Mr.
Walker had good opportunities to acquire the necessary knowledge.
He was an officer ui the treasury chambers of Dublin, and was one of
those who were warmed into the necessary enthusiasm of authorship by
the kindling influence of national independence which Ireland enjoyed
in his time. Since Walker wrote. Bunting, Moore, Hardiman, Murphy,
and others, have made efforts to rescue our music and history from ob-
livion.

Francis Plowden, an Englishman, wrote an honest, though abridged,
history of Ireland, from its connection with England in 1172 to 1800;
and a continuation of Irish history from 1801 to 1811. His latter work

BARRINGTON. GRATTAN. WYSE. 125

is invaluable as proving, by documentary evidence, tbe atrocious villany
of those who concocted, aided, and acted as agents of blood, in bringing
about the fraudulent union. Mr. Plowden's first work on Ireland was
a volunteer publication, entitled a Review of Irish History. This
work, for its extreme impartiality, was attacked by the Orange writers
of the day. He then entered the field as a vigorous historian, searching
the archives of Ireland for proof to sustain his general accusations against
England, her ministers, and their bloodthirsty agents in Ireland, the
notorious Orangemen. Mr. Plowden, I have heard, was prosecuted for
libel by some of the persons whose deeds he brought to light, and under
a government where the publication of truth is declared libel, he was
found guilty, and sentenced to be fined and imprisoned ; to escape
which, he fled to France, where, I have heard, he died.

Sir Jonah Barrington, a native of Dublin, a member of the Irish
parliament, and a judge of the admiralty, published, in Paris, a splendid
historical work, denominated the Rise and Fall of the Irish Nation,
which embraces the gloomy events of Ireland, that grew up under the
penal laws — the times of Grattan, the Irish volunteers, and the fall of
Ireland at the union. His history of the union is the most truthful and
comprehensive work published on the subject. The author was himself
a member of the Irish parliament, and voted to the last against its anni-
hilation : he wrote and published his history in Paris, whither he retired
after the fall of his country. His is an eloquent and a truthful picture
of the times in which he lived — the most glorious, as well as the most
gloomy, recorded in Irish history. His work was published in 1833.

Martin M'Derraott, of the Coulavin family, died in London, 1821, at
thirty-one years of age, while superintending the publication of his history
of Ireland. Pepper lauds that portion which appeared, very highly ;
and says, no historian of Ireland has infused so much of the spirit of
historical eloquence into the narrative of his country's story, as that gift-
ed and lamented son of Irish genius.

Grattan's Life, by his son, (Henry,) covers nearly the same ground as
that trodden by Barrington. Grattan having been the chief actor during
the days of Ireland's glory, from 1777 to 1795, his Life discloses a bril-
liant succession of incidents, a great number of documents, letters of a
very interesting character, especially so to the statesman and general
politician. This work was published in Dublin, in 1840.

The present Thomas Wyse, the eloquent member for Waterford,
wrote, in 1830, a history of the Catholic Association. His work takes in
the penal code, and the efforts made by previous associations of Cath-

126 CAREY. PEPPER. MOORE.

olics to efface that code from the constitution. Mr. Wyse's work
carries on the thread of Irish history, with circumstantial detail, to the
passing of the reform bill, in 1831.

Matthew Carey, of Philadelphia, published in that city a very able but
brief work, a few years ago, entitled Ireland Vindicated.

Pepper, the eloquent, talented, and learned Pepper, published in
Boston, in 1836, a history of Ireland, which he brought down only to
the twelfth century. He intended to carry the history to his own times,
and was preparing to go to Ireland to collect documents ; but he Uvea
not to complete his work. Pepper was a native of Ardree, near Dro-
gheda, where, previous to his departure for this country, he was engaged
in the flour business. He established, in New York, the Irish Shield,
which, on removing to Philadelphia, he continued, in that city, to its
fourth volume. It was a spirited weekly publication, which fully realized
its title. He was editor of the Boston Sentinel, and the early series of
the Boston Pilot. His work on Ireland is extremely eloquent : indeed,
some persons think his style rather inflated ; but this is a small fault.
The immense quantity and the great variety of the facts, notes, and
appropriate quotations from other authors, which he has put together
in his eloquent book, must forever preserve his name amongst the most
talented and patriotic of his countrymen. He died in Boston, of a vio-
lent cold and fever, caught from stripping ofl" his coat to cover some
unfriended countryman of his own. Poor Pepper, though endowed
with splendid talents, was encountered, in this asylum of the oppressed,
by petty personal attacks, which he repelled with scathing power and
cmshing effect. To honor his memory, some patriotic and warm-
hearted sons of Ireland have caused a marble obelisk to be erected over
his remains in Charlestown burial-ground. The workmanship was
executed, in a very able manner, by Michael Gallagher, of Canton.
It bears the simple inscription that follows : —

I
GEORGE PEPPER,

HISTORIAN OF IRELAND;
BORN IN TALLISTOWN, CO. LOUTH, IRELAND.

Died in Boston, May 11th, 1837.

— AGED 45 TEARS.

Thomas Moore commenced the publication of his history of Ireland

HUISH. BATTERSBY. o'cALLAGHAN. 127

in the year 1835 ; and though he has no doubt prosecuted the work
with as much vigor as he could summon, and devoted as much time to
it as his other engagements would permit, it is not yet completed.
It brings the history of Ireland down to the time of Elizabeth, 1550,
and a very important space yet remains to be described. Although it
must be a species of presumption in me to attempt to say any thing of
one whose works have made him known to every nation, still a few lines
in this place may be pardoned. The family of Moore were from Wex-
ford, in Ireland. The poet was born in Dublin, whither the family came
to carry on business. They opened a grocer's store in Aungier Street, in
that city ; and young Moore was educated in Trinity College. His
poetry points the speeches of every patriot, and graces, while it con-
veys, the sentiments of every drawing-room miss.* Few men had better
opportunities than Moore to gather materials ; yet there are some emi-
nent Irishmen not well satisfied with his history of Ireland : amongst
these are O'Reilly, Dalton, O'Brien, Pepper, Sir William Betham, and
the writers of the Dublin Nation. I should be the last man in creation
to cast the shadow of censure on Mr. Moore's history, whose style is so
eloquent, whose learning is so great, whose fame is so well and so deserv-
edly established ; but after all this, I must confess, there is more favor
shown to England in his work than England deserves : however, on this
head I shall speak in the proper place.

The Life of O'Connell has been published by Robert Huish. The
book touches the outlines of Irish history from 1800 to 1833. The
author, having put together four or five hundred pages filled with the
sayings and doings of this great man, flings upon his hero, at the con-
clusion of the work, one of the usual canting taunts about his reception
of an annual stipend from his countrymen. The author wrote for the
English. The Life of O'Connell is yet to be written.

The Repealer's Manual, by Mr. Battersby, of Dublin, published in
1832, is an invaluable compilation of facts, figures, and documents, con-
nected with the fatal union. I wish it were reprinted, and put into the
hands of every repealer in England, Ireland, and America. From it I
have gleaned many valuable facts, nowhere else to be obtained.

The Green Book, by John Cornelius O'Callaghan, now of Dublin, but
whose family, I believe, are from the south of Ireland, was published in
Dublin in 1840. Its historical part is devoted to the affairs of Ireland
under James the Second and William the Third. The various battles
which took place, on Irish ground, between these kings, are ably re-

* See my sketch of him, page 1100.

128 O'CONNELL, MADDEN, CLONEY, WOLFE TONE, GORDON, ETC.

viewed ; the English accounts are ripped up, and a new reading of the
memorable events is given to the world, well fortified by indisputable
authorities. Mr. O'Callaghan had been a contributor of prose and
poetic pieces to the Dublin Comet, which was a brilliant weekly paper
of the Anglesey reign. It did good service to the cause of freedom, in
those days of terror. The Parson's Horn-Book was enlivened by
some of the squibs and crackers of O'Callaghan. Brown and Sheehan,
however, were the chief writers of that very able book. Brown is now
employed on the Washington Globe, in America ; Sheehan on one of
the London newspapers, from which he draws a handsome salary, and
infuses into the periodical all the poetry, sarcasm, and spirit, which
characterized the Comet and Horn-Book.

Daniel O'Connell, the Liberator, published, in 1842, a -'Memoir
of Ireland, Native and Saxon," which does not pretend to be more than
an historical indictment against the Saxon. It begins with the invasion
by Strongbow, in 1169, and concludes with the reign of James the First
It is indeed a terrible indictment against England, and terribly has she
felt it. It is a gathering of horrors, poured out on the head of the op-
pressor with an unsparing hand. This work has furnished the repealers
of Europe and America with material enough to excite their indignation,
and feed their eloquence. On Daniel O'Connell, the author of that
work; I shall have a special lecture, which see.

Madden's History of the United Irishmen, Cloney's Narrative,
Wolfe Tone's Memoirs, Gordon's History, and Taylor's Rebellion of
1798, together with Fragments of Irish History, published by Macneven
and Emmet, in New York, furnish pretty full materials relating to the
unfortunate affairs of Ireland during the rebellion of 1798, and the times
immediately previous and subsequent. Besides these, the innumerable
biographies of distinguished Irishmen furnish material abundant to sustain
that part of the undertaking.

These are the principal authorities from which I have compiled this
work. The greater portion of the modern authors above enumerated are
in my possession. I need not express how intensely I feel the responsi-
bility which I incur. If I shall live to complete this book, and present
to my countrymen in America a familiar digest of their glorious history,
together with some specimens of their music, — if I shall win the charac-
ter of having done no damage to their name and cause in this endeavor,
— let me have the honor of a place in this distinguished catalogue of
her historians.

IRISH MANUSCRIPTS. 129

Note referred to at page 108.

Whitelaw gives a list of the Irish manuscripts m the Irish character still exist-
ing in the archives of Trinity College, Dublin, and in the private libraries of
members of the Gaelic or Hiberno-Celtic Society of Ireland. There sxe forty-one
manuscripts on antiquities ; (liirty on battles ; eight on laws ; eleven on medicine
and botany ; four on science ; eleven on morals and religion ; ten dictionaries and
glossaries ; fourteen romances and dramatic tracts, forming altogether one hun-
dred and twenty-nine very ancient and very rare works. See Whitelaw's Dublin,
Appendix, 78, and Nicholson's Irish Historical Dictionary, Dublin, 1723. The
Right Rev. Dr. Murphy, bishop of Cork, has ten thousand quarto pages, transcribed
from old Irish manuscripts of a more modern date.
17

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132 ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE OF IRELAND.

SECTION III.

First Erections of the Milesians. — Round Towers. — Probable Uses. — Specimens of
ancient Round Towers. — Egyptian. — Indian. — Irish. — Obelisks of Egypt. —
Round Towers of India. — Religious Systems of India. — Buddhism. — Druids. —
Caesar's Description of them. — Tower of Ardmore, in Ireland. — Experiments at
the Foundation. — Number and Size of the Irish Round Towers. — Marks of
Christianity found on them. — Identity of the old Irish Castles with Egyptian
Houses proved. — GobbaAvn Scir. — Drawings of Egyptian Houses. — Irish Cas-
tles.— Drawing of an ancient Egyptian Sandal, found in Ireland. — Mr. Gliddon's
Opinion thereon. — Egyptian Writer Heccatseus on Ireland. — Cromleaghs. —
Caves, &c.

The ancient architecture of the Milesians deserves here a specia!
notice. It must be kept in our minds, totally distinct from the archi-
tecture of the ages which came immediately before and followed the
introduction of Christianity. The first erections of this singular people
yet live. They have lived on for thousands of years, through storm
and through convulsion ; and they yet exist above the earth, defying;
like the proud race of the land, both time and tyranny.

The stone erections of the ancient Irish were of two kinds, viz., the
round, pointed towers, and the square, vaulted castles. The former were
sepulchres, and, as some very learned men assert, were used also for
religious purposes and astronomical observations ; tlie latter for the
habitations of chiefs. There are many of both kinds of building yei
existing in Ireland. The material of vv'hich they are composed seems
calculated to endure forever. Many of the round towers are yet in a
perfectly whole and sound condition, though erected more than three
thousand years ago ! The material of them all is stone and cement.
The latter was formed of properties unknown to modern science. The
scientific men of modern times cannot, by the most minute analysis,
discover the nature of that cement, which has bound the stones together
for so many ages. The origin and uses of these round towers have been
the topic of a prolonged controversy between some of the most eminent
scholars of Europe. Several books have been written to prove one side
or other of the different positions assumed by the respective writers.
No reasonable man could expect, from a work so general as this, a crit-
ical inquiry into a vexed question so learnedly discussed. A glance at
the curious and interesting subject is all I propose to give.

Sir William Betham has entered into the profoundest depths of the
round tower inquiry. Ancient and modern history, the experiments

ROUND TOWERS. 133

and observations of travellers in all countries, have been compared with
each other. The ground under and around the foundations of some of
these towers has been dug, under the superintendence of gentlemen
whose only object was to elicit truth. An opinion, formed upon con-
curring experiments, made not only in Ireland, but in India, Egypt,
Italy, and elsewhere, has been established ; the substance of which is,
that these towers were erected in those ages when men conceived their
greatest honor, while living, consisted in the dimensions of the monument
they could raise up for the reception of their ashes.

This was the spirit which animated the Pharaohs of Egypt to the
erection of the pyramids, those huge masses of stone and cement,
which have certainly perpetuated the fame of the race of kings that
raised them, in defiance of time or invasion, through many and many an
age. Mr. Moore, while devoting several pages of his work to this topic,
thinks these towers were used as well for astronomical purposes as re-
ligious. The four windows generally found at the top, as pointing to
the four cardinal points of the compass, — north, south, east, west, —
the stone steps, leading upwards, through the inside, to these apertures,
plainly prove these towers to have been erected for utility as well as
show. There is, in my opinion, nothing in the supposition inconsistent
with the wisdom and pride of our progenitors. We can readily conceive
the motives of a distinguished man, who, in raising a monument to per-
petuate his memory, chose a mode which would forever connect his
name with science, and preserve a recollection of his existence in the
minds of enlightened men.*

Before I enter farther into this question, I deem it proper to present
outlines of three of these ancient erections, which are evidently akin to
each other. No. 1 is Egyptian ; No. 2, Indian ; No. 3, Irish.

* See note, in reference to Mr. Peitre's new theory on this subject, at the end of
the book.

OBELISKS OF EGYPT. OF INDIA. 135

No. 1. The obelisk of Heliopolis is the sole remaining one of a
pair that stood together, which were erected by Osortasen, king of
Egypt, about 2070 B. C. Gliddon tells us that, about six hundred
and forty-seven years ago, Abd-el-Cateef, the Arab historian, wrote
there were then two upon the spot. The height of the remaining pillar
is about sixty-one feet, and its base six and a half. The Pharaohs of
Egypt erected these comparatively small towers before their great mon-
uments and pyramids, to receive the written memorials of their existence
and quality. That presented in the annexed diagram contains a series
of hieroglyphic characters ; the translation of some of which is as follows :
— " Pharaoh, sun offered to the world, lord of Upper and Lower
Egypt, the living of men, son of the sun, Osortasen," &c. Sic. —
This obelisk was dedicated to the sun, to which was dedicated the city,
on the ruins of which it still stands. There are several of these Egyp-
tian obelisks existing in Thebes, Alexandria, and other cities, along the
Nile. All of these contain inscriptions of some sort or another, record-
ing the deeds of kings and heroes. By some these erections have been
called Cleopatra's Needles, but this is a popular misnomer. The obelisk
in the Hippodrome, at Constantinople, is a work of Thotmus the Fourth.
That at Rome bears inscriptions of various Pharaohs and Roman em-
perors. Of all the obelisks, the largest and most beautiful is that of
Karnac, at Thebes, cut by Queen Amense, before Christ 1760. It is
a single shaft, of the purest and most exquisitely polished sienite, in
height about ninety feet, and in weight about four hundred tons.

In Egypt, where the passion for erecting stupendous monuments over
the dead was nurtured for ages by national policy and popular senti-
ment, these obelisks were of secondary importance — something in the
way of ornament to the main erection ; but in those distant countries
into which the Egyptians and Phoenicians penetrated, where the popula-
tion was yet thin, and building material scanty, their kings and chiefs
contented themselves with erecting the smaller towers, which, according
to the changing circumstances of climate and country, were linked by
the builders, for the reasons already stated, with both the religious and
■scientific studies of the people.

In reference to the Indian tower, marked No. 2, all we can learn
about it is little indeed. Sir William Betham says, " We find round
towers in every respect identical with our own, scattered over the entire
surface of the peninsulas of India. Two Buddhist towers are now
standing at Bigpore, described by Lord Valentia, and there is another
standing at Cole, near Allyghur, as appears from a drawing by my friend

136 BtJDDHISM.

Captain Smith, late of the 44th. His lordship observes, ' It is singular
that there is no tradition concerning them, nor are they held in any
respect by the Hindoos of this country. The rajah, Jyanagur, consid-
ers them holy, and has erected a small building to shelter the great
number of his subjects who privately come to worship them.'" On
their general uses, and their identity with the age and objects of the
Irish towers. Sir William Betham thus reasons : " The opinions and
tenets of the Buddhist faith supply the strongest evidence that the
towers of India and those of Ireland originated with the same opinions,
and were erected for the same purpose — evidence which, taken as a
whole, I never even hoped would be so satisfactory and conclusive as it
now appears. In papers published in the Transactions of the Royal
Irish Academy, I attempted to show that the Ptolemaic maritime
geographical names of the Indian seas were significant of the local
character and peculiarities of each place in the Irish language. This
was to me a matter of surprise, but at that time I did not contemplate
that the tenets of the Buddhist faith, (the faith, be it remembered, which
preceded the Brahmins in India,) the most ancient faith of all India, and
still of the Island of Ceylon, the ancient Taprobana, and the greater
part of the further peninsula of India and China, should be found nearly
in perfect accordance with that of the Celtic Druids. Such, however,
is the fact, as far as we know of the latter, and the remains of that
people in our island also coincide.*

" Buddha Gaudma is supposed to be an incarnation of the deity.
There were many before him ; he is now the Buddho, The Lama of
Tibet is supposed also to be a living incarnation, or representation of
Buddho, by the Chinese called Foe, and on the death of his body, the
soul immediately is born again in another person. It is necessary to
say thus much to account for the numerous holy relics of Buddha,
which have been deposited in many dagobas, tcypes-, and towers, in
India.

" The Buddhist believes in a future state of rewards and punish-
ments, in the transmigration of souls. A bad man may be born again a
pismire ; a good one, a heavenly being, an angel. Heaven awards not-
its blessings, or hell its pains, eternally, but according to the merits or
demerits of the individual.

"Buddha issued ten commandments I Of these —

« 1. Thou shalt not kill.

" 2. Thou shalt not steal.

" 3. Thou shalt not commit fornication.

• See a further evidence of this identity in language at page 101-

BUDDHISM. 137

" 4. Thou shalt not say any manner of falsehood.

" 5. Thou shalt not drink any intoxicating liquor.

" These five were to be observed by all his disciples, but by the holy
priests are added to the third above recited, ' or admit a lustful desire,
or suffer the touch of a woman.''

" 6. Thou shalt not eat at any unpermitted hour.

" 7. Thou shalt not dance, sing, or play music, or see them done.

" 8. Thou shalt not use high and great seats.

" To the inferior priests are enjoined the following, in addition : —

" 9. Thou shalt abstain from the use of flowers or perfumes.

" 10. Thou shalt not receive, use, or touch gold, silver, or money
of any kind.

" The breach of these laws is committed by thought, word, and deed,
thus, in stealing : —

" 1. The knowledge that the property is another's.

" 2. The desire of stealing.

'' 3. Projecting means to steal.

" 4. Actual commission of theft.

" The 3d, of fornication : —

" 1. Desiring a woman not your wife, or a woman a man not her
husband.

" 2. Lustful desire in man or woman.

" 3. Planning a committal.

" 4. Actual commission.

" The 4th, of falsehood : —

" 1 . The knowledge of its being a falsehood.

" 2. The saying it.

" 3. The making the hearer believe it.

" The 5th, drinking intoxicating liquor : —

" 1. The knowledge of its being intoxicating.

" 2. The drinking it.

" 3. Suffering under its effects.

" There are ten sins : three committed by deeds — killing, stealing,
and debauching.

" Four by words — lying, backbiting, slandering, or speaking to hurt
another's feelings, and idle talk.

" Three by mind — covetousness, envy, and false belief.

" This brief statement of the opinions and belief of Buddhism clearly
shows that the late Mr. O'Brien totally misunderstood its precepts, and
that, all his premises being erroneous, his conclusions must be equally so.
18

1 38 BUDDHISM. DRUIDS. C JiSAR.

The religion of Buddha has nothing in common with the obscenities of
Siva, or the worship of the Phallus.

" I do not mean to say that the Buddhist religion is pure in its prac-
tical effects : its theory alone is pure ; but it requires something more
than pure laws to produce pure lives. It is well said, ' It inculcates
benevolence, tenderness, forgiveness of injuries, and love of enemies ; it
forbids sensuality, love of pleasure, and attachment to worldly objects ;
yet it is destitute of power to produce the former or subdue the latter.
It is like an alabaster image, beautiful in all its parts, but destitute of
life, and being so, provides no atonement for sin. Here, also, the
Gospel triumphs over this and every other religion.' # * *

"The Druids have long ceased to exist in Gaul and Britain, and none
of the Roman or Greek writers afford any satisfactory clew to their doc-
trines and dogmas, except what we find in Caesar. We, in fact, know
but little of them ; St. Patrick's zeal for the Christian faith destroyed all
the books of the Irish Druids.

" The little Caesar supplies is, however, of the first importance. To
the pen of that great man we are indebted for what we know of the early
history of the British islands. He possessed the highest order of human
intellect ; he was the greatest soldier, the most profound statesman, and
most elegant scholar, not only of his own day, but of the periods which
preceded him, at least so far as profane history speaks,"

It is due to truth to insert here the character of Julius Caesar by
the learned Sir Richard Phillips : " He was a profligate young
patrician, who, being two millions in debt, obtained by corruption the
command of the army, with which he plundered and enslaved several
nations, and then turned it against the freedom of his own. He ulti-
mately paid the penalty of his tyranny and treachery by the loss of
his life at the Capitol. Most of the commentaries which bear his
name were written by Hirtius and AppiusJ'

" Csesar says, ' The Druids are occupied with the sacred duties of
expounding their religion, and ordering the ceremonies of their public
and private sacrifices. To them the youth are committed for education,
and they are held in such honor and reputation, that all controversies, or
disputes, both public and private, are referred to their decision. If any
offence be committed, as murder or manslaughter, or any dispute re-
specting estates, lands, or inheritance, it is the Druids who decide,
punishing the guilty and rewarding the virtuous.'

" ' They teach, as their chief doctrine, that men's souls are immortal,
and move from one body to another after death.'

DRUIDS. BAAL. 139

" Let us now compare the Druid and Buddhist systems, and first their
religion. They both believe in the metempsychosis, or transmigration of
souls — a system so peculiar and singular in its character and ramifica-
tions, as to negative at once the idea that it could have originated from
separate sources ; the most credulous and speculative would scarcely
venture an assertion so improbable. If this be admitted, we know that
the metempsychosis was essentially an opinion taught by Pythagoras,
and promulgated over the world by the Phoenician people, both in the
east and west.

" The Druids and Buddhists were both skilful astronomers ; of this I
have already given sufficient evidence in Ctesar and Upham, and the
Mahawansa.

" BAAL.

" Among other coincidences between the opmions and customs of the
Buddhists and the Celts, Is to be numbered the planet worship of the
Baalim, which prevails in Ceylon, and wherever Buddhism rules. It
will not be denied that the worship of Baal prevailed in Ireland, and
other Celtic countries, except by those whose ignorance is only to be
equalled by the confidence with which they put forth their pretensions to
knowledge. The lighting of the fires of the Bealtin, on the eve of the
summer solstice, the name of Baal scattered over the whole of Ireland,
in its topography, as Baal iigh more, the great house of Baal, in Cork;
Baltinglass, the Green of Baal's Fire, in Wicklow ; Baall agh, or
Baal's Ford, in Mayo, at which place, by the bye, is a round tower,
prove the fact : it is useless to multiply examples.

" Mr. Upham says of the doctrines of the Bali in Ceylon, (page 1 16,)

" ' Planet influence is styled Bal-le-ah, which may bear acuity to
Baal:

"These Indian towers, like the Irish, are circular; they are both soli-
tary buildings, with an entrance elevated from eight to twelve feet from
the ground ; they each have small apertures for the admission of light,
at regular distances from the elevation, with four apertures near the top,
at the four cardinal points, and each is covered with a round or conical
top. The Buddhist writings declare that they were built over the
bones or relics of their saints, or to commemorate some act of their
incarnate Buddho, In the tower of Timahoe, in Ireland, an urn was
found, which contained human bones.

" In India are abundance of dagobas, or mausolea of dome-like masses,
covering the body of a deceased Buddho, solid, save the chamber, where
the body was deposited. In Ireland we have conical hills, as New

140 ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.

Grange, Killeavy, Dowth, Ratoath, Cloncuny, of exactly the same
character."

The tower of Ardmore, No. 3, in the diagram, stands in the county
of Waterford, on the coast, near the entrance of Youghal Bay. It is
above one hundred feet high, forty-two feet in circumference, fifteen in
diameter. " It is divided on the outside, by projecting bands, into four
unequal stories, with a window in each, except the upper, in which are
four opposite to each other. The door is about fifteen feet from the
ground. This is the only tower in Ireland (at least I believe so) which
has the projecting bands, in which it resembles much the Indian towers
of Boglipor."

Sir William Betham, in concert with other antiquarians of Ireland,
has had many of those Irish towers closely examined, and the earth
dug up for several feet beneath their foundations. As tlie description of
one experiment would nearly answer for all, I content myself with
giving that made in Ardmore, in July, 1841, by Mr. Hackett, who de-
scribes the root of the tower thus : " Mr. Odell's letter described our
labor in reaching the bottom ; let me now describe what appears to have
been the manner in which the builders of the tower proceeded. They
first went about ten feet, or more, below the surface, and there laid their
foundation of large rocks ; about four feet from the bottom they laid the
body across, the head and feet resting on the rocks at the opposite side,
the body lying on a bed of mould, four or five feet in diameter ; they then
continued to carry up the foundation, the ends irregularly serrated, so as
to overlay the head on one side, and the feet on the other; they then
covered the body with about two feet of mould, which they covered
with a floor of mortar ; over this, they wedged in, with such force as to
render them impervious to ordinary labor, large blocks forming a com-
pact mass of unhewn stones, and above them another layer of similar
stones, but not so compact; over this were indications of another mortar
floor, which being only visible at the edges, indicated a former attempt
at exploration. Only about one course or two of large blocks were laid
higher than the outside plinth ; above these was a loose mass of small
stones, five or six feet deep, of the same kind of stones as the substratum
of blocks, all of which are different from the stone of which the tower
was built. I am thus minute in the description, because it has been
suggested that, as the skeleton was found lying east and west, as the
bodies do in the surrounding cemetery, the tower had been built over a
grave unknown to the builders. This induced me to examine it with
more care, and I took with me an intelligent mason, who agreed with

NUMBER AND SIZE OF THE IRISH ROUND TOWERS. 141

me that this tower was certainly intended as a sepulchre, for the whole
was carefully and artificially prepared for that purpose ; first, laying
down a concrete floor, then four successive layers of mason's work, and
finally, above these, a second floor of concrete ; all this would not be
accidentally built over a body previously deposited, for the last floor
and the walls rest on the solid rock.

" On the 29th of July, I received a letter from my friend, John
Windele, Esq., of Cork, confirming Mr. Hackett's statements ; and,
on the 18th of August following, one from Mr. Odell, stating that he
had discovered a second skeleton, so imbedded in the solid work of the
tower, he had ' not been able to extract it, but that it can be got out
without, ill the slightest degree, interfering with or endangering the
foundation, which rests, as I had anticipated, upon the rock.' "

Similar experiments were made in the foundations of the towers of
Cashell, Cloyne, Roscrea, Drumbo, Maghera, and other places. There
are sixty of these ancient edifices in Ireland, and two in Scotland, viz.,
at Brechin and Abernethy ; their general height ranges between ninety
and one hundred and twenty feet. Moore says of them, in the con-
clusion of his interesting essay, (published, however, previous to the
important discoveries made by Sir William Bethain and his friends,)
" They [the towers] must therefore be referred to times beyond the
reach of historical record." That they were destined originally to
religious purposes, can hardly admit of question ; nor can those who
have satisfied themselves, from the strong evidence which is found
in the writings of antiquity, that there existed between Ireland and
some parts of the East an early and intimate intercourse, harbor much
doubt as to the real birthplace of the now unknown worship, of which
these towers remain the solitary and enduring monuments.

Some of the round towers have marks of Christianity cut in the
door-ways, and in other parts of the building. From this circumstance,
certain writers have taken occasion to insist that some of them were
built in Christian times ; but, on examination, this will be found un-
tenable. We know that the early Christian missionaries adopted the
policy of weaving in as many of the previous customs of their converts
as, consistent with their principles, they could. For instance, the
Baaltine fires, lit up throughout Ireland at midsummer, in honor
of Baal, (the sun,) were not suppressed by St. Patrick, but the custom
was turned to Christian account, by annexing to it the festival of St.
John : thus did they in all countries. These venerated towers were not
destroyed, nor the custom of assembling round them abolished ; but

142 IDENTITY OF THE OLD IRISH CASTLES AND EGYPTIAN HOUSES.

Christian churches were erected close to them, and the Christian rites
were performed nearly on the very sites of the pagan sacrifices. Even
in our own times, a reverend gentleman in the south of Ireland
has erected two round towers on the ancient principle.

With a view of proving the identity of the early buildings of Ireland
and those of Egypt, I present drawings of an old Egyptian house, and
of a building which is a specimen of many that are yet to be seen in
Ireland. No. 1, I have copied from a drawing presented by Mr.
Gliddon in his lectures on Egypt, which he sketched from one of the
ancient Egyptian houses to be found in the valley of the Nile. No. 2,
I have sketched, according to the impressions made on my memory of
an old castle to be found in Ireland, near the banks of the Grand
Canal, at the village o( Balateage, about twenty-four miles south-west
of Dublin. I have seen this old castle many a time, and have often
run up its old stone steps when a boy. The old arched vault is still
in perfect order, and over it is a layer of earth, which forms a second
floor or story. The roof has long since decayed away, and the upper
part of the walls are mouldering slowly.* This castle, like all the others
of its kind through Ireland, is supposed to have been erected several
centuries ago by a certain Gobbawn Seir, or masonic conjurer, whom
popular tradition has linked with every extraordinary or ancient build-
in o- of which there is no certain history known. No. 3, is a sketch
of the ancient Castle of Carlingford, near Dundalk, in the county
Louth. Near this castle is the ruin of an old abbey, which was
erected Several ages ago: the castle was then an ancient ruin. There
are still lingering in Ireland a few others of those very ancient
erections, — one at Kilgobbin, another at Kilcullen, he. There
can be no doubt entertained by any man, that they are of Egyptian
orio-in, and are nearly coeval in date with similar erections yet found
in the valley of the Nile, which gives them an age of better than three
thousand years.

No. 4, is an accurate drawing of a leather sandal, found in the
year 1833, by some turf-cutters, deep in the bog near Kilnemnon,
in the county Tipperary. I take the engraving and description from
Fold's Dublin Magazine, 1834. The gentleman who describes it says,
" The drawing is done to life ; the smallest minutia of the carving,
and even two cuts, which the sandal unfortunately received from the
tools of the workman ere it was discovered, being faithfully delineated.
This valuable relic of antiquity is made of leather curiously carved ;
* These walls are eight feet thick.

EGYPTIAN SANDAL FOUND IN IRELAND. 143

and I need not add, that it is well tanned. The possessor is of opinion
that it is near a thousand years old."

I took this drawing to Mr. Gliddon, of whom I have made
honorable mention on several previous occasions, to ascertain his
opinion as to its origin. He, without hesitation, declared it to be an
Egyptian sandal. Mr. Gliddon resided in Egypt three-and-twenty
years as the consul of the United States, and, during that time, made
the antiquities of that country his favorite study. He pointed out to
me, amongst his drawings, the outline or profiles of many Celtic heads,
which are still seen chiseled in the monuments of Thebes. He as-
sured me that it was the opinion of the learned, who had studied this
subject, that these profiles bore so strong a resemblance to the Irish of
the present day, that they might be said to be sketches of the living
race, instead of their progenitors entableted near four thousand years
ago ! 1 could indeed give other engravings of ancient coins, weapons,
and ornaments, which will go still farther to prove the immediate rela-
tionship of ancient Ireland with Egypt.

CKOMLEAGUS. CAVES. • ] 45

Here, perhaps, is the best place to introduce the celebrated passage
from the Egyptian writer Heccataeus, transcribed by Diodorus the
Sicilian, in reference to the "Land of the Hyperboreans," which
proves how highly Ireland was then esteemed by the scribes of that
great nation. " They say that Latona was born here, [in Ireland,]
and, therefore, that they worshipped Apollo above all other gods ; and,
because they are daily singing songs in praise of this god, and ascribing
to him the highest honors, they say that those inhabitants demean
themselves as if they were Apollo's priests, who has here a stately
grove and renowned temple of round form, beautified with many rich
gifts ; that there is a city likewise consecrated to this god, whose citi-
zens are most of them harpers, who, playing on the harp, chant
sacred hymns to Apollo in the temple, setting forth his glorious act?.
The Hyperboreans use tht ir own natural language ; but, of long and
ancient time, have had a special kindness for the Grecians, and more
especially for the Athenians, and them of Delos ; and that some of
the Grecians passed over to the Hyperboreans, and left behind them
divers presents, inscribed with Greek characters ; and that Abaris for-
merly travelled from thence into Greece, and renewed the ancient
league of friendship with the Delians," &c.

These drawings, and what I have said respecting them, relate only
to the ancient architecture of Ireland. The ages antecedent and
subsequent to Christianity gave birth to a different, and a more
varied, style, which shall, when we come to the affairs of those ages,
be fully considered.

Under the head of " ancient erections " of Ireland may be ranked
the cromleaghs and caves, which were of Phoenicio-Etruscan origin.

" The Etruscan mode of burial was the most sumptuous and ex-
pensive of any ancient nation, except, perhaps, the Egyptians. It
does not appear that they embalmed the bodies of the dead, but they
hewed out chambers in the natural rock, in which they placed sarcoph-
agi of marble, and other stones, and also of burned clay, and placed
about them vases and bronzes of great beauty and exquisite taste ; on
the bodies they left sumptuous ornaments of gold and precious stones.

" To give even a sketch of this very interesting portion of the
Etruscan remains, would occupy too much space. The object here
is merely to make a comparison between the mode of sepulture of
the ancient inhabitants of Ireland and those of Italy.

" The damp climate, and consequent wetness of the soil of Ireland,
forbids the general adoption of excavating chambers in the natural
19

146 CAVES.

rock ; nor does the hard stone, of which Irish rocks are, for the most
part, composed, admit of such an operation ; while the soft tufa of Italy
is peculiarly fitted for the purpose : we cannot, therefore, expect to
find many similar chambers in Ireland. The Etruscans, however, had
also their large artificial hills, or tumuli, with long galleries, or passages,
leading to the centre, where were lofty chambers, formed of large
stones of Cyclopian architecture, in which they deposited the mighty
dead.

" The monument, or tumulus, called Cucumella, in the plains of
Canino, partakes of the character of the round tower, as well as of
the tumulus. It closely resembled Newgrange, Dowth, and many
other Irish sepulchral tumuli, as to its external appearance, before it
was opened."

Ireland still presents evidences, in her caves and cromleaghs, of her
Phoenicio-Etruscan origin. There are celebrated caves in all parts of
the country, some of them evidencing, in the inside, the expenditure
of considerable labor and taste. That in the plains of Louth is inlaid
with marble, on which figures in basso relievo have been well
carved. " St. Patrick's Purgatory " is a narrow cell in one of the
islands of Lough Derg. It is hewn out of the solid rock, and was a
place of penance, of voluntary imprisonment, which the holy man
prepared for himself, and to which he frequently retired as a punish-
ment for his sins. Skeheewrinky, near Cahir, is a splendid cave:
after descending by a ladder of thirty steps, the visitor can wander for
half a mile under ground, and find on every side rocky altars, columns,
spires, and architectural ruins, resembling a fallen city. Bally Cassidy,
near Enniskillen, is a cave, the dome of which rises to the elevation
of twenty-five feet, and the different chambers are adorned with Tuscan
columns of limestone. Indeed, in every part of Ireland, there are
time-honored caves, to which the enthusiasts in religion or science
withdrew, to enkindle in their souls, unimpeded by the gross world
without, the celestial fires of that heaven which they worshipped.

For a further account of Irish architecture, see page 485.
In the month of August, 1844, and since the preceding pages were
stereotyped, one of those colossal mounds, having a cave beneath, was
accidentally opened by some laborers, near Tarbert, on the Kerry side
of the Shannon. It is described as a conical hill, two hundred yards
from the base to the summit. It is surmounted by an ancient fort.
Beneath the summit was discovered a vertical entrance, a common door-
way, of about two feet square, and about six feet below the surface.

THE PILLAR TOWERS OF IRELAND. 147

Five or six persons who had ventured in, one after the other, were suffo-
cated by the confined air. At length, when its suffocating properties
were somewhat neutraHzed by the admixture of a fresh current, others
entered, and having dragged out the lifeless bodies, report that they pro-
ceeded through the narrow passage before described, and at the distance
oi a few feet were able to stand nearly erect ; they thus advanced
through four cellars, each about six feet long, connected, in a circuitous
direction, by narrow apertures, the walls of the cellar being formed of
grit-stone, overlapping each other.

Having passed through these, the party reached a straight hall, about
twelve feet long, at the end of which the leader (Bunnian) struck upon
one of the bodies they were seeking. It is probable that before this
book goes to press, some further information may be obtained about the
interior of this second Irish pyramid. This discovery, together with the
pyramid called New Grange, near Drogheda, discovered only seventy
years ago, leaves no longer any doubt that the original settlers of Ireland
were from the shores of the Nile. The following beautiful stanzas, by
Desmond, in the Dublin Nation, are appropriate : —

THE PILLAR TOWERS OF IRELAND.

<' The pillar towers of Ireland — how wondrously they stand,
By the lakes and rushing rivers, through the valleys of our land !
In mystic file, through the isle, they lift their heads sublime,
These gray old pillar temples — these conquerors of time!
Two favorites hath Time — the pyramids of Nile,
And the old mystic temples of our own dear isle ;
As the breeze o'er tlie seas, where the halcyon has its nest,
Passeth Time o'er Egypt's tombs and the temples of the West !
The names of their founders have vanished in the gloom,
Like the dry branch in the fire, or the body in the tomb ;
But to-day, in the ray, their shadows still tliey cast —
These temples of forgotten gods — these relics of the past !
Around these walls have wandered the Briton and the Dane,
The captives of Armorica, the cavaliers of Spain,
Phoenician and Milesian, and tlie plundering Norman peers,
And the swordsmen of brave Brian, and the chiefs of later years !
How many different rites have these gray old temples known !
To the mind what dreams are written in these chronicles of stone !
What terror, and what en-or, what gleams of love and truth,
Have flashed from these walls since the world was in its youth!
Here blazed the sacred fire ; and, when the sun was gone,
As a star from afar, to the traveller it shone ;

And the warm blood of the victim have these gray old temples drunk,
And Uie death-song of the Druid, and the matin of the monk."

148

MUSIC.

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LECTURE V.

Til I'. BAUDS.

The Banla. — Tlicir iuicu>iit Diitios. — Rospect shown Ihcrii. — Nature of I'octry.

— Music dofiiicd. — IJards wore cliorislu'd by tl»o Ancionts. — Thoir Modo of
hclpinjr llic Memory. — Material of tluMr Books. — Public Ijocturos of the
Barda delivered in Reci1,al,ivo. — Helpt^d tli(>ir Voice with tlie Harp, — AcadcMuies
of the Bards. — Tlic Barred and Ring. — Bards led Iho Armies to Battle. —
Tiieir Jnduencc. — Their Dress. — Value of their Dress. — Their Duties at the
Biiriiil of the Dead. — The Caione. — Ijamei\tation over Chucullen's Tomb. —
The Ulluhilh, or Irish Cry over the Dead. — Female Voice mingled in the
Jianientalion. — Bardesses. — Bards acted as Registrars. — Were taken as Hos-
tages.— Blair's Estimate of their Character. — Grew in Nund)ers prodigiously. —
Limited by King Hugh in the si.vth Century. — Cohimba, Kille comes from
Scotland to plead for them. — Their excessive Numbers prove the poetical
and musical Taste of the People. — The Scottisii Bards received tiieij Education
in Ireland. — Destruction of Irish poetic Maiuiscri|ils. — Irisli Poetry. — Rules of
th(! Poets. — The twenty-four Laws of Irisli Poetry introduced into Wales in
the eleventh Century. — The Irish Miist(>rs of every Sort of Versification. —
Their Rules adoptt^i by mod(;rn Poets. — Sj)ecinien8 of ancient Irish Poetry. —
Irish Triads. — C.^lassified Deliuition of English Versification by Sir R. Piiillips.

— Oisin the old Bard of Erin. — Learne<I Disputes about his Poems. — Homer's
•subject to similar Disjjutes. — Oisin n\{ Irisliuiati. — The most l(>arned Men
jidiuit it. — Macplierson's Translation. — (^iiariuM.er of Macpherson. — Speci-
mens of the Oisiauic Poetry. — Eionmaccounduill's Advice to jiis Son. —
Oisin's Lamentation for the Loss of his Sight.

Ouii idea of a bard difTors inatorially from llial cnl.(Mtaincd by our
Milesian forefathers. By us, llio bard is vieweil as a wandorinuj rhyinor,
songster, or sonio eccentric person of that nature. Hut in llie early
ages of Ireland, ami durini; lur long career of independence, the bard
was esteemed a most important ofilcer. In his pen-son were imited tho
attributes and functions of historian, legislator, judo(», poet, and niusi-

152 RESPECT SHOWN THE BARDS. NATURE OF POETRY.

cian, and sometimes the functions also of Druid. From the very
first settlement of the Milesians in Ireland, the bard was viewed by the
people with the highest respect. In the reign of the enlightened Irish
king Tigernmass, about nine hundred years before Christ, the high
respect entertained for the bardic order was distinctly marked in the
sumptuary laws established by that monarch to regulate the colors in
the people's dress. That celebrated law limited the common people
and soldiery to one color ; military officers and private gentlemen to
two colors ; commanders of battalions to three colors ; beataghs, or
keepers of houses of hospitality, to four; the principal nobility and
knights to five ; and the ollamhs, or dignified bards, to six ; whilst
to the king seven colors, and no more, were permitted. This law, while
it marked distinctly the respect rendered to the bards, ranking them
next to royalty itself, proves, at the same time, the order which, in that
remote age, prevailed amongst the ancient Irish, and establishes, beyond
the power of calumniators to deny, the science and taste which must
have been called into action, to supply the public appetite for those
various colors. The Franks, or French, in the time of Pepin, adopt-
ed this custom from the Irish, and have continued it from that time to
the present. The many-colored garments of the French are to be
traced to the Irish custom here noted. Walker, reflecting on this
law, asks, with patriotic exultation, " Can ■ that nation be deemed
unenlightened or barbarous, in which learning shared the honors next
to royalty ? Warlike as the Irish were in those days, even arms were
less respected amongst them than letters. Read this, ye polished
nations of the earth, and blush ! "

In all ages, and in every nation, poetiy and music were ever held m
estimation. Every man is more or less a poet or musician, and is
affected more or less with the one or the other expression of human
feeling, in proportion as his physical and mental faculties are natural^
healthy, developed, and cultivated. Poetry is the regulated efferves-
cence of the brain ; it is part of the excitement which takes place
beyond the demands for natural wants, and thus displays itself in
flights called imagination ; those flights are often eccentric, and produce
evil. But " good poetry," says Sir R. Phillips, " is the able display
o^ feeling; and good prose, the able display o{ fact, correct reasoning,
and acquired knowledge."

Music is the more sublimated expression of human feeling ; its
effect depends upon the power and variation of the sounds which con-
vey it. Music may be defined an agreeable stream of well-con-

BARDS CHERISHED BY THE ANCIENTS. 153

trasted sounds, formed by the standard of the human voice in a natural
key, continually varying from that to a lower or higher pitch, but
uttered in a manner agreeably to the organs of hearing, or the seat of
sensations in the brain. Music, like language, delights in simple
sounds ; yet refinement, as it proceeds, sanctions a skilful deviation from
simple sounds^ as the acme of science. An ear accustomed or edu-
cated to these deviations must be continually fed by the like sounds,
for it sickens at the pure voice of nature. In the same way does the
physical appetite of one, who has been fed from childhood on food tor-
tured from its natural flavor by every imaginable invention, sicken
against plain meats in their original elements.

In the next section, I shall enter more fully into the subject of
MUSIC ; the present is devoted to the " bards."

Ancient Ireland was surpassed by no nation on the earth in political,
literary, and religious institutions. The bards, as heads of education,
and administrators of laws, were a privileged and an influential class.
They were greatly respected by the ancients of every nation. The
Egyptians and PhcBnicians honored them highly ; and the Greeks
and Romans — pupils of those learned nations — honored their bards
after the custom of their great teachers. Even Alexander the Great
was accompanied by a bard, Cherijlus, who received a piece of gold
for every good verse, and a blow for every bad one. Our great
Irish bard Oisin speaks of a king* who kept one hundred bards in his
court.

As books were very scarce in those ancient times, the bards turned
their histories and laws into poetic or rhyming metre, the more easily to
fasten them in the memories of the hrehons (judges) and legislators.
Some classes of the bards were required to recite from memory the
genealogies and history of twenty kings. Others were required to
recite in verse the whole history of Ireland, including all the laws and
battles that had taken place from the first landing of the Milesians to
their own times. These exercises must have wonderfully increased the
power of their memories. Their academical discipline enjoined that,
on every new day, the business of the preceding should be rehearsed,
the conversations and exercises renewed, till all that was deemed most
valuable was stamped indelibly on the leaves of memory. It was the
practice of those learned men to store their heads with knowledge.
The learned of our aays keep their knowledge packed in their libraries.

The bards wrote on the inner bark of the beech-tree. The term
book was derived from bench, a beech-tree. The book of Dedan,
* Cormac, in the third century.

154 MATERIAL OF THEIR BOOKS.

written in Ireland before the Christian era, which was deposited by
James the Second in the College of Paris, is of that material. The
Egyptians cut their laws and histories on stone. They also wrote them
on leaves of the papyrus plant. The Phoenicians engraved on bronze
tables ; the Romans on ivory ; and the Irish on wood, iron, bark, and
the skins of beasts. Parchment volumes were commonly rolled on a
stick having a ball at each end ; the composition began at the centre.
These were called " volumes," and the outsides were inscribed just as
we now letter books. Flatted horn and thin plates of brass were used
in religious recitals, and in schools. The horn-book of our nurseries is
a primitive book. Parchment volumes were scarce ; they frequently
sold for double their weight in gold. Information was communicated
to assemblies by the bard, as it now is by the lecturer. He recited, in
sweetly-modulated tones and in metre, the deeds of kings, heroes, ad-
venturers, mariners at sea, the relations which the stars bore towards
each othej', &ic.

All they deemed worth preserving, in science, law, or worship, was
committed to verse, and, through the sweet medium of poetry, con-
ducted to the heart, and marked on the memory.

Each succeeding generation of the Milesian family recognized the
attributes and authority of the " bard," as a legislator, an administrator
of the law, poet, historian, and instructor of youth. Occasionally their
voices were accompanied by an instrument — the harp, most likely, as
that instrument was very generally in use, in those ages, in Ireland.

We are told by the Abbe Dubois, an old French writer, that the
early Grecian and Roman orators, in their public orations, sustained
their voices by musical accompaniments. Thales, the Cretan legislator,
conveyed his precepts in verse, and sung them to his lyre. In Ireland,
there were places set apart for the educatiori of the " bards." These
sacred recesses of study were generally sunk in sequestered woods.
The eye of day was excluded, and learners studied by the light of
tapers, torches, and lamps. The ollnmh studied twelve yeai-s, each three
of which were devoted to a chief branch of science. It was in those
primary recesses of learning that the Druids instructed the bards. The
diet and dress of the students were regulated by the most rigid rules of
prudence. The attractions and lures of pleasure were strictly kept
away from these homes of study ; all was peaceful, silent, and awful ;
here the troubles of the world found no entrance ; here genius was
fostered, and the soul sublimed.

In after ages, colleges of extensive dimensions were founded on these

ACADEMIES OF THE BARDS. 155

principles in Ireland. Clogher, Armagh, Lismore, and Tamour, were
amongst the chief seats of learning. The regulations of those primary
seats of literature were afterwards copied by the universities of France,
Germany, and England. The bard, thus educated for about twelve
years, received his degree as ollamh, or doctor, when the square cap,
or barred, was put on his head, and a ring on his finger, in token of his
learning and station ; and these insignia of the learned are continued to
our own time, especially in the ecclesiastical customs of the Christian
church. The square cap, worn by modern ecclesiastics in the pulpit
Sec, is the barred of the ancient Irish.

There were several orders of bards. The most learned were ad-
mitted into the order of the Druids, which was the highest of all.
They were trained to arms, and, though not bearing arn)S in the field,
joined in every battle, exciting the warriors, by singing the praises and
glories of their fathers. Their persons were held sacred by all sides ;
it was a sort of sacrilege to injure them in person, property, or repu-
tation. They animated the troops, before and during an engagement,
with Rusga-Catha, — the inspiring war-song, — and, when they shook
the " chain of silence," contending armies stopped the battle, and
listened to the voice of negotiation. They were the heralds and
constant attendants, in the field of battle, of the chiefs whom they
served, marching at the head of their armies, arrayed in white flowing
robes, harps glittering in their hands, and their persons surrounded
with a staff of vocal and instrumental musicians. While the battle
raged, they stood apart, and watched, in security, every action of the
chief. Their business on the field of danger was as much to record
the noble deeds of their chiefs, as to stimulate them by the ani-
mating strains of their martial music.

"The Muse her piercing glances throws around,
And quick discovers every worthy deed."

It was the province of one of these bardic orders, the Jilea, to
mark the backsliding of his chief, and correct any tendency to evil he
might discover in him. Mr. O'Conor, of Belenagar, says, that these
bards were supposed by the common people to be gifted with the
power of prophecy ; and this delusion was favored and encouraged by
the military chieftains, in whose interest they exerted their extraordinary
influence over the p3ople in the various struggles for governmental
sway, which then, as now, possessed the hearts of men.

The dress of these bards, as I have said, consisted of a white flowing

156 DRESS OF THE BARDS.

toga, or cotJia, hung loosely over their shoulders, bound by a girdle
round the loins. The cotha of the Irish was the toga of the Romans.
The limbs were encased in a thruise, made of weft, which fitted so
closely, that the action of the muscles could readily be seen through
the web. This thruise went down to the ankles, where it was tightly
fastened, and there was observable, in stripes, the exact number of
colors peculiar to his order. He wore his beard long, and his flowing
locks, which reached over his neck and shoulders, were bound round by
a golden fillet. "His harp, in good grace, was pendent before him.
And thus in a moment of inspiration does he move.

"He is entranced. The fillet bursts that bound
His liberal locks. His snowy vestments fall
In ampler folds ; and all his floating form
Doth seem to glisten Avith divinity !'"

The value of a bard's dress was fixed by a royal ordinance of Mogha
Nuadhad, one hundred and eighty years after Christ, at five milch cows,
which would equal fifty pounds of present British currency. There
are frequent allusions in this ordinance to the " old laws," which prove
that, in very remote ages, this matter was attended to by the kings.
We see, from the whole train of Iiish history, that this order of men
possessed a very considerable influence in the affairs of Ireland. They
appeared to be, in those early ages, the models and the censors of
society. Their duty, as expressed by one of their order, was, to

"Applaud the valiant, and the base control,
Disturb, exalt, enchant, the human soul!"

Another office, performed by the bard with pomp and circumstance,
was the ceremony of lamentation at the burial of the dead. When a
prince or a chief fell in battle, or died by the course of nature, " the
stones of his fame" were raised amid the voices of bards. On this
occasion, the Druid having performed the rites prescribed by religion,
and the pedigree of the deceased being recited aloud by his seanachai,
the caione, or funeral song, (composed and set to music for the
occasion,) was sung in recitativo over his grave by a racaraide, or
rhapsodist, who occasionally sustained his voice, with arpeggios swept
over the strings of his harp ; the symphonic parts of this solemn
ceremony being performed by minstrels who chanted a chorus at inter-
vals, in which they were joined responsively by other attending bards,
the relations and friends of the deceased mingling their sighs and
tears.

LAMENTATION OVER CHUCULLEn's TOMB. 157

The following lamentation of the bards over Chucullen's tomb, as
translated into English, will give an idea of the soul they infused
into their compositions : —

" By the dark rolling waves of Lego, ^

They raised the hero's tomb, Luath;
At a distance lie the companions
Of ChucuUen at the chase.
Blest be thy soul, son of Semo !
Thou wert mighty in battle!
Thy strength was like the strength
Of a stream ; thy speed like the eagle's wing.
Thy path in the battle was terrible;
The steps of death were behind thy sword.
Blest be thy soul, son of Semo!
Thou hast not fallen by the sword of the mighty;
Neither was thy blood on the spear of the valiant.
The arrow came, like the sting
Of death, in a blast; nor did
The feeble hand which drew the bow
Perceive it. Peace to thy soul in thy cave,
Chief of the Isle of Mist!
The mighty are dispersed, O Mora!
There is none in Cormac's hall:
The king mourns in his youth, for
He does not behold thy coming.
The sound of thy shield is ceased ;
His foes are gathering round:
Soft be thy rest, in thy cave, chief of Erin's wars.
Bragcla will not hope thy return,
Or see thy sails in ocean's foam;
Her steps are not on the shore, nor
Her ear open to the voice of thy rowers.
She sits in the hall of shells,* and sees
The arms of him that is no more.
Thine eyes are full of tears, daughter
Of car-borne Sorglars.
Blest be thy soul in death, O chief of shady Cromla."

The custom was founded in sound policy. The bards were directed
to seize on the solemn occasion of interments to soothe the tumultuous
passions of human nature, and to impress on the minds of their hearers
a reverence and imitation of virtue, or what in those heathenish days

Hall of music ; so called from various musical shells used by the ancients ;
the musical principles of which have been imitated in modern brass instruments.

158 IRISH CRY OVER THE DEAD.

was deemed virtue. They dwelt on the excellences and heroism of
the deceased, recounting all his acts of humanity and valor ; closing
every stanza with some remarkable epithet of their hero. Walker
observes on this custom, " David's lamentation for Jonathan, and the
conclamaiio over the Phoenician Dido, as described by Virgil, coincide
with the caione, or Irish cry : the ululuh of the Irish, and the Greek
word of the same import, are exactly alike."

This ceremony was considered of such moment that the man to
whom it was denied was deemed accursed, and his ghost supposed to
wander through the woods bewailing his miserable fate. Thus the
woods and wilds became peopled with shadowy beings, whose cries
were supposed to be heard in the piping winds, and the banshee's moans
were believed to mingle in the terrific lamentation,

" Deepening the murmur of the falling floods,
And breathing browner horrors on the woods."

The melting sweetness of the female voice was deemed necessary
in the chorus of the funeral song. Women, whose vocal powers gave
effect to the voice of song, were taken from every class of life, and
instructed in all the music then practised.

The cur sios, or elegiac measure, was chiefly taught them, that they
might assist in heightening the melancholy which that solemn ceremony
was calculated to inspire.

Mr. O'Halloran says it was ever considered that a fine female voice,
modulated by sensibility, is beyond comparison the sweetest and most
melting sound in art or nature.

It appears, in every age of our country's history, that women exer-
cised an active influence in the political and social government of
society. They cultivated and nourished music and poetry as a passion.
They often employed those divine powers in softening the manners of
the men, rendered harsh by the practices of the camp and the battle-
field. What an unbounded influence must those arts, united with the
irresistible sway of female beauty, have given the women of those ages 1
Accordingly we find them guiding, in secret, the helm of the state, and
proving the primary cause of great revolutions. While embattled ranks
waited the arrival of expected invaders, women often passed through the
lines, animating the soldiery with suitable war-songs, accompanying their
voices with cruits, or portable harps. On such occasions, if the danger
was imminent, they appeared in black, and assumed a frantic air : —

BARDS. BLAIr's ESTIMATE OF THEIR CHARACTER. 159

" Througrh our ranks

Our sacred sisters rushed, in sable robes,
With hair dishevelled, and funeral brands
Hurled round with menacing fury ! "

When armies returned, in triumph, from foreign wars or domestic
battles, troops of virgins, clad in white, each bearing a small harp in her
band, advanced with a tripping step to meet them, with congratulatory

songs : —

" With the voice of songs and the harp,
They will hail their heroes."

These influences proved strong incentives to valor ; and its universal
practice throughout Ireland could have no other effect than that of pro-
ducing, which it did, a nation of heroes.

A further duty of the bard was to fix the degree of honor won by his
chief, or that realized by his ancestors. An officer for registering the
titles and honors of nobility is still continued in Ireland for each of the
four provinces. One of these is Sir William Betham, the ablest scholar
and most profound antiquarian in Europe. The bards were deemed of
so much consequence in the state, that they were sometimes accepted as
hostages. Aodh-Dubh, king of Munster, would not consent to the in-
vestiture of Aodh-Caomh, in the sixth century, till he delivered up
hostages to him : this was agreed to, and Breannin, the abbot of Clonfert,
with M Lenin, the bard, were delivered up as sureties. It is no wonder
that the bards were held in this high estimation. It was through their
means only, that the prince, or chieftain, could hope for immortality to
his fame. The bard mingled in every social and convivial circle.
Without him the feast, however luxuriantly spread, would prove insipid.
Blair, noticing the respect paid to them by the Irish, says, " So strong
was the attachment of the Celtic nations to their poetry and their bards,
that, amidst all the changes of their government and manners, even long
after the Druids were extinct, and the national religion altered from the
worship of the sun to the worship of its Creator, the bards continued to
flourish ; not as a set of strolling songsters, like the Greek rhapsodists
in Homer's time, but as an order of men highly respected in the state,
and supported by a public establishment. We find them, according to
the testimonies of Strabo and Diodorus, before the age of Augustus
Caesar ; and we find them remaining under the same name, and exer-
cising the same functions, as of old, in Ireland and in the north of
Scotland, almost down to our own times." After the introduction of
Christianity, some of our bards acted in the double capacity of bards and

160 THE BARDS GREW IN NUMBERS PRODIGIOUSLY.

clergymen. As late as the thirteenth century, we find Donchad O'Daly,
abbot of Boyle, excelling all the other bards of his time in the hymnal
species of poetry. In the next section I shall show the share which
the bards and the early Christian fathers took in the cultivation of music.

Invested with honors, wealth, and power, says Walker ; endowed
with extraordinary privileges, which no other subject presumed to claim ;
possessed of an art which, by soothing the mind, acquires an ascendency
over it ; respected, by the great, for their learning, and reverenced almost
to adoration, by the vulgar, for their knowledge of the secret composition
and hidden harmony of the universe, the bards became, in the reign
of Hugh, about A. D. 560, intolerably insolent and corrupt, and their
order a national grievance. They arrogantly demanded the golden
buckle and pin which fastened the royal robes upon the monarch's
breast, and had been, for many generations, the jewelled associates of
the crown. They lampooned the nobility, and were guilty of several
immoralities, and not only grew burdensome to the state, but increased
so prodigiously, that the mechanic arts languished from want of artif-
icers, and agriculture from want of husbandmen. Many regulations
had been put into operation, during the reign of several monarchs, to
restrain them ; and the monarch (Hugh) called an assembly of the
estates in Donegal, principally to expel them from the kingdom, and
abolish the whole order. But, at the intercession of St. Columba
Kille, who came, with a considerable deputation from Scotland, (then
a colony of Ireland,) to attend this assembly, he spared the order,
but reduced its numbers, allowing only to each provincial prince, and
to each lord of a cantred, one registered ollamh, who was sworn
to employ his talents to no other purpose but the glory of the Deity,
the honor of his country, of its heroes, of its females, and of his
own patron.

The Welsh bards grew so arrogant, in the times of Griffudd ap Cy-
nan, (twelfth century,) that it became necessary to control them by a
law, which restrained them from asking for the prince's horse, hawk, or
greyhound.

The excessive number of the Irish bards, and the very laws passed,
in later ages, to limit and control them, prove the pervading taste of the
Irish nation for poetry and music, during a long succession of ages.
This prominent attribute in our national character, together with count-
less facts, well attested, that history has left us, which shall be presented
as I proceed, must establish for Ireland, in the minds of all unprejudiced
men, her claim to be ranked the school of Western Europe in poetry

SCOTTISH BARDS RECEIVED THEIR EDUCATION IN IRELAND. 161

and music. In the celebrated letter of Dr. Macpherson to Blair, there is
a long and interesting account given of the bards of the MDonald, the
most eminent of the chieftain race of Scotland. The genealogy of the
family hard is traced back through nineteen generations. They had
lands and pay appropriated to their use by their patron, the M'Donald.
Their duty was to continue the family record, the deeds of the chief,
the intermarriages with other families, the history of the national wars,
and general vicissitudes of the clans ; to make periodical visitations,
every three years, to all the branches of the chieftain's family ; to enter
and correct records of the births, marriages, deaths, survivorships,
transfer of lands, &c. These entries were taken as evidences, in all
courts of law, in Scotland, Leland, and Wales, down to a modern epoch.
That which more especially deserves our notice, in this interesting rem-
iniscence, is the closing remark of Dr. Macpherson, himself a Scotch-
man : " The last of the race was a man of letters, and had, like his
ancestors, received his education in Ireland, and knew Latin tolerably
well." — See Macpherson's letter to Dr. Blair.

Many of the most sublime pieces of our ancient poetry are lost, never
to be retrieved. Our poetic gatherings have been destroyed at thi-ee
periods in our history. The first took place in the fifth century, at the
introduction of Christianity, by St. Patrick, who burnt all poetic compo-
sitions not embracing laws or history ; the second during the tempo-
rary subjection of the Irish to the Danes, in the ninth century, when a
general destruction of the national poetry, as well as schools and colleges,
took place, under the direction of the Danish chiefs ; and the third in
the sixteenth century, at the terrible period of the reformation, when
the sacking of convents and the burning of whole libraries were the
ruffian occupation of British soldiers and adventurers.

Through all those vicissitudes, there were some children of poetry, in
whose hearts the godlike fire could not be extinguished, who, like Cagsar,
when, pitched from his bark into the current of the Delta, he buf-
feted the struggling surge with one hand, while /vith the other he bore
his Commentaries above the waves in triumph to the shore, clung,
with a death-struggle, to the poetic remains of their heroic ancestors.

The attention of the most learned has, in latter years, been turned
to the nature and construction of Irish poetry. It was found in the old
Irish code of poetic rules, entitled Uiraicecht na Neagir, (Rules for a
Poet,) that the most extensive, exact, and minute laws were laid down
for the government of their poetic compositions. Dr. Molloy says,
the construction and variety of Irish metre are the most difficult he had
21

162 IRISH POETRY. RULES OF THE POETS.

ever seen or heard of. In its composition, these things are required —
number, quartans, number of syllables, concords, correspondence, ter-
mination, union, and caput ; the subdivisions of all which are again
minute and perplexing. The authors of that able work on the poetry
and music of Wales, entitled the Myvyrian Archaeology, published un-
der the superintendence of the society of Welsh antiquarians, enter on
a profound inquiry into this subject.

Referring to a second era in Welsh poetry and music, (the twelfth
century,) on which those learned antiquarians pause to comment, they
bring forward the great and broad fact, that " from Ireland [in that cen-
tury] was brought into Wales, by Griffudd ap Cynan, certain cunning
musicians and bards, well skilled in poetry and music ; and then was
established twenty-four elementary principles of versification : these,
with their subdivisions, [say the authors,] include every species of

TERSE THAT HAS EVER YET, IN ANY AGE, Or AMONGST ANY PEOPLE,
BEEN PRODUCED, BESIDES A PRODIGIOUS NUMBER OF ORIGINAL CON-
STRUCTIONS, WHICH CAN BE FOUND WITH NO OTHER PEOPLE." The

learned Wormius, who wrote in the sixteenth century, speaks iri
wondering terms of the pupil of a learned Scot, (the Irish were, in
those ages, called Scots,) who was master of no fewer than one,
hundred different kinds of verse, with the musical modulation of
words and syllables, which included letters, figures, poetic feet,
tones, and tune. Macpherson says of the poetry belonging to the
era of Oisin, (the third century,) " Each verse was so connected
with those which preceded or followed it, that, if one line had been
remembered in a stanza, it was almost impossible to forget the rest.
The cadences followed in so natural a gradation, and the words were so
adapted to the natural turn of the voice, after it is raised to a certain
key, that it was almost impossible, from a similarity of sound, to substi-
tute one word for another. This excellence is peculiar to the Celtic
tongue, and, perhaps, is to be met with in no other language. Nor does
this choice of words clog the sense, or weaken the expression. The
numerous flections of consonants, and variation in declension, make the
language very copious."

Here must the reader, if he have Irish blood streaming in his veins,
be forced, as I have been, to pause in admiration of those almost for-
gotten forefathers, and to lament, for human nature's sake, the existence
of that ignorance, or that prejudice, which, in our days, refuses to them
the deserved distinction of a refined and intellectual reputation.

The refined poetry which the Irish produced, from the second to the

THEIR RULES ADOPTED BY MODERN POETS. 163

ninth century, is at once a monument of their learning and their culti-
vated taste. The critical rules laid down for the construction of poetry,
by Alexander Pope, in modem times, were understood and developed,
fifteen hundred years ago, by the poets of Erin.

««'Tis not enough no harshness gives offence;
The sound must seem an echo to the sense.
When Ajax strives some rocKs vast weight to throw,
The line too labors, and the words move slow.
Not so when swift Camilla scours tlie plain,
Flies o'er th' unbending corn, and skims along the main."

Pope.

The principle in poetic composition so expressly recommended by
Pope was, as we have seen, understood, practised, and taught, by the
men who have, with equal charity and truth, been described, by some
English writers, as semibarbarous.

Spirit of tlie godlike Oisin !

Whene'er you wander o'er Temora's ruins,

Along tliy radiant pathway in the clouds,

Look down upon those slanderers

With heaven-created scorn!

And smite the reptiles back

Into that hell from whence alone

They e'er could have emerged!

This may be the best place to give a few specimens of the ancient
Irish rhyme, which I take from Logan and others.

" In Gaelic poetry, the rhythm sometimes consists in the similarity of
the last words of the first and third, and second and fourth lines, as in
English composition, thus : —

*Measg aoibhneis an talla nam fear
Mar so thog cronan am fonn
Dh'eirich maduinn a, soills' o'n ear
Bughorm air an lear, an tonn.'

Carraig Thwa, ver. 195.

" In the stanza which immediately follows this, the rhymes are in the
last syllables, but the final consonants are not alike, the harmony de-
pending on the concord of the vowels.

16^

DESCRIPTIONS or VERSIFICATION.

*Ghairm an righ a shiuil gu crann;
Thanig gaoth a nail o'n Chruaich:
Dh'eirich Innis-Thorc gu mall;
Is Carraig Thura iul nan stuadh.'

Here the correspondence is in the a in the first and third lines, and in
the ua in the second and fourth.

" Sometimes the conformity between the last word of a line, and some
word or part of a word about the middle of the following line, constituted
the rhyme ; as,

' 'Suaigneach m' aigne 'n uaimh mo bhroin ;
'Smor mo leon fo laimh na h'aois.
Ossag 'tha gastar o Thuath
Na dean tuasaid ruim 'smi lag.'

Morduth.

" The above three sorts of rhyme are often found in one composition,
intermixed with couplets rhyming as softly and perfectly as in modem
Italian ; for example : —

' Soilsichibh Srad air Druim feinne
'Sthig mo laoich o ghruaigh gach beinne.'

Morduth.

" Some of the most beautiful passages in old Gaelic poetry are, how-
ever, a sort of blank verse, having no rhyme. It appears that the bards
sought, in this case, no more than to render every line perfect, with-
out any dependence on the next, of which the following 'War Song*
furnishes specimens.

'A mhacain cheann,

J^an cursan strann,

Ard leumnach, righ rCd!n sleagh!

Lamh threin ^sguch cas

Croidhe ard gun sc&.

Ceann airm nan rinn gear girt,

Gearr sios gu has,

Gun bharc sheol ban

Ehi snamh ma dhubh Innishtore.

Mar tharnanech hhavil

Do bhuill, a laoich!

Do shuU mar chaoir ad cheann^

Mar charaic chruin,

Offspring of the chiefs,

Of snorting steeds, high bounding !

King of spears !

Strong arm in every trial!

Ambitious heart without dismay.

Chief of the host of severe sharp-

Cut down to death, [pointed weapons,

So that no white-sailed bark

May float round dark Innistore.

Like the destroying thunder

Be thy stroke, O hero !

Thy forward eye like the flaming bolt ;

As tlae firm rock,

SPECIMENS OP ANCIENT IRISH POETRY. 165

Do cTiroidhe gun roinn. Unwavering be thy heart;

Mar lassan oidhch do lann. As the flame of night be thy sword.

Cum suar do scia Uplift thy shield,

Is crobhhui nial Of the hue of blood.

Mar chih bho reul a bhaish, As you see his death shall be real.

A mliacain cheann Offspring of the chiefs

JVan cursan strann, Of snorting steeds,

Sgrios naimhde sios gu lar. Cut down the foes to eartL'"

" The ease with which the language is rendered harmonious is the
cause that there are so few bad verses in Gaehc. Many of the sweet-
est lyrics have no other rhyme than the frequent sound of a single
vowel or diphthong running throughout the stanza, with hardly any
regularity of situation.

'A nighean donn na buaile

— *

Gam bheil an gluasad farusd

Gun tug mi gaol co buan difit

'Snach gluais e air an Earrach so

Mheall thu mi le d' shughradli,

Le d' bhriodal a's le d' chuine

Lub thu mi mar fhiuran

'Scha duchas domii bhi fallain uaith.'

Anon,

"In singing or playing these compositions, the rhyming vowels are
apparent, and prove the harmony of the measure. The Aged Bard's
Wish is probably older than the introduction of Christianity among
the Gael, for he displays his belief in the ancient Celtic theology, and
anticipates the joys that await him in the elysium of the bards — in the
hall of Ossian, and of Daol. It shows that, at a very early period,
harmony of numbers was sedulously studied. There is a beautiful
poetical translation of this piece by Mrs. Grant ; for the literal version
of the stanzas quoted, I am indebted to the author of Melodies from
the Gaelic.

'THE AGED BARD'S WISH.

*Ocairibh mi ri taobh nan allt
A shiubhlas mall le ceumaibh ciuin.
' Fo sgail a bharraich leag mo cheann

'S bith thus a ghrian ro chairdeil rium.

166 SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT IRISH POETRY.

Gu socair sin 's an f heur mo thaobh
Air bruaich na'n dithean.'snan gaoth tla,
Mo chos ga slioba sa bhraon mhaoth,
Se luba thairis caoin tren bhlar.

Biodh sobhrach bhan is ailli snuadh
M'an cuairt do ra' thulaich, 'suain fo dhriuchd,
'San neonain bheag 's mo lamb air chluain
'San ealbhuigh mo chluas gu cur.'

Translation.

*0 lay me by the streams tliat glide,
With gentle murmurs soft and slow;
Let spreading boughs my temples hide ;
Thou sun, thy kindest beams bestow.

And be a bank of flowers my bed,

My feet laved by a wandering rill:
Ye winds, breathe gently round my head;

Bear balm from wood, and vale, and hill.

Thou primrose pale, with modest air,

Thou daisy white, of grateful hue.
With other flowers, as sweet and fair,

Around me smile through amber dew.'"

There was a very peculiar measure of poetry in great favor with the
ancient Irish, called a triad, connecting three lines in a special har-
mony. Cormac, king of Ireland, in the third century, wrote a cele-
brated work in this measure, called, by his Latin contemporaries, De
Triadibus ; this work was very highly applauded by the old writers.
Of the philosophic, the elegant Cormac, who rebuilt the halls of Tara
iin carved marble, I shall have much to say in its place. He was the
Pericles of Ireland ! and yet who knows any thing of him ?

Fingal, the father of Oisin, wrote triads. Camden mentions a Welsh
\\()rk, Triadiim Liber, and there are others yet existing. Thomas
Davis, of the Nation, the present war bard of Erin, wrote the
celebrated lament over Father Tyrell's grave partly in that measure ;
and perhaps, than it, there never was any composition in the English
language which produced amongst the people so deep a feeling of com-
bined sorrow and revenge. The circumstances which caused the death

TRIAD VERSIFICATION. 167

of Father Tyrell will be related under the head of the " State Trials "
of 1844. — I give a specimen of the lament over the martyr.

"A MARTYR'S BURIAL.

" And shall we bend and bear forever ?
And shall no time our bondage sever?
And shall we kneel, and battle never
For our own soil ?

And shall our tyrants safely reign
On thrones built up of slaves and slain,
And nought to us and ours remain.
But chains and' toil.''

No ! round this grave our oath we plight.
To watch, and labor, and unite,
Till banded be the nation's might,
Its spirit steeled !

And then, collecting all oiu* force,
We'll cross oppression in its course,
And die, or all our rights enforce
Upon the field."

This is another evidence of the knowledge of human passion which
our great forefathers acquired by the cultivation of mind. Here are we,
in the blaze of the nineteenth century, — after poetry has been, for the
past fifteen hundred years, twisted and tortured into a thousand forms
and fashions, even as ladies change their dresses, — confessing, by our
imitation and adoption of their style and rules, their intellectual power.

I regret the limits of this work will not permit me to give more of
those specimens. The lover of genuine poetry will find in Hardiman's
Minstrelsy, Walker's Irish Bards, Bunting's Collection, Moore's immor-
tal Melodies, the Green Book, Spirit of the Nation, specimens of every
style of Irish poetry ; some of the latter are to be found in the musical
pages of this book.

Sir Richard Phillips has given a very brief list of the terms and
rules of modern English poetry, which, like the English language itself,
have been compounded from the rules of several nations. A poet,
skilled in the Irish language, and rules for Irish poetry, can easily
discover that many of the laws which govern English poetry have been

168 LEARNED DISPUTES ABOUT OISIn's POEMS.

drawn, like their best common-law maxims, and the trial by jury, their
letters, and their Latin, from persecuted Ireland.

" Heroic measure, in English poetry, is ten syllables. Iambic verse
is when unaccented syllables alternate with accented ; in anapcstic
verse, the accent falls on every third syllable ; a daciyle is one long
and two short syllables ; a trochee is one long and one short syllable ;
a fijjondee is two long syllables ; and iambics arc like trochees. There
are twenty-eight feet, or metres, consisting of two, or three, or four,
short and long syllables. Hexameter verse is of six. feet — the first four
dactyles or spondees, the fifth a dactyle, and the sixth must be a spondee.
Pentameter is five feet, the two first dactyles or spondees, the third a
spondee, and the two last anapests, or two short and one long syllable.'*
— Sir Richard Phillips.

Anxious as I feel to conclude this protracted section on our an-
cient bards and poetry, I cannot do so without devoting a page to
the poetry attributed to Oisin. There are few who are not aware
that the scattered poetic works attributed to this poet, have been
translated from very old Irish manuscripts by Mr. Macpherson, a
Scotchman, about seventy years ago. These scattered fragments were
collected in some cottages of the Highlands of Scotland, where the
old Gaelic (Irish) is yet, and probably ever will be, spoken. Mac-
pherson understood the old language, — a rare accomplishment in an
educated man. He discovered the fire and soul originally infused
into, and still vividly existing in, those fragmental pieces. They
were chiefly founded on the wars, successes, or reverses, deaths, vic-
tories, or loves, of the Irish heroes, who accompanied Oisin and his
father's legions in their warlike expeditions against the Romans in
Caledonia and the north of Britain. These poems were written in
detached pieces in the camp or on the march. The scenery around
their homes, their marches, and the fields of their conflicts, are accurate-
ly sketched ; the incidents are colored in Homer's style ; the con-
nection between their actions and the spirits of those who preceded
them — the communion of the living with the dead — is traced in the
vivid sublimity of Milton. Although Oisin, who flourished in the
third century, may have written some of these pieces, there is internal
evidence in the poems, as proved by very learned men, that many of
them belong to eras some centuries more modern than Oisin's time,
whilst others again assert that some of them are Macpherson's own
creation. Now, it may be probable that the majority of all these rea-
soners are right.

homer's subject to similar disputes. 169

The poems of Homer, which have been gathered into two distinct
works, viz., the Iliad and Odyssey, are not all of his composition,
nor of his age. The wars of the Trojans, which form the sub-
ject of the Iliad, took place 1150 B. C, and two hundred and
fifty years before he wrote. He was blind during the prime of his
life ; and, therefore, many of his compositions were delivered orally,
and committed to the memory of others, according to the practice of
that era. He travelled much in Egypt, where he composed some
portions of the works attributed to him. They were gathered there
and elsewhere, two hundred and fifty years after his death, by Lycur-
gus, the Spartan lawgiver, and others, from the lips of men, and not
from books. Although it is now believed by the learned (see Sir
Richard Phillips, p. 602) that Homer did not write all the works at-
tributed to him, yet no one values them the less on that account. He
probably began a certain style of poetic description, apt, natural, and
exciting, which he sang or recited with great effect to the people of his
age. Others imitated his style, and elongated his story. Copyists in
succeeding ages purified the composition as they transcribed it from
hand to hand. This was a privilege and practice assumed by copyists
before the era of printing, and is one of the reasons why the works of
old authors have come to our hands so pure.

The Oisianic poems may have descended to us attended by like
circumstances. The uncertainty as to the origin and the age of some
of them, is a characteristic that appertains to other great works, which
are, nevertheless, highly valued. That Oisin was the son of Fion
M' Coumhall, the Irish general of the Leinster militia, (Irish also,) is
admitted by all ; that he commanded in his father's legions, in Cale-
donia, against the Roman legions, in the third century, is equally certain ;
but that he was a Scotchman, as Macpherson has it, is untenable,
improbable, and untrue. As well might it be said that the Duke of
Wellington is an Englishman, or a Spaniard, because he fought the
wars of England in Spain. Oisin, his father Fion, and his legions,
were Irish, who, under the Irish and Caledonian compact, fought the
Romans on the plains of Britain. The heroes he celebrates were
Irish ; the scenery he describes is Irish. It can yet be seen in Done-
gal, between the Screen and Tara, from the Hill of Allallou to the
Morna Mountains. In the county Donegal there is a cloud-capt moun-
tain called Alt Ossoin, around which is some of the scenery so finely
described by Oisin.

I say so much, and adduce the proof that follows, to show that
22

170 OISIN PROVED TO HAVE BEEN IRISH.

Oisin was not a Scotchman, because I find in a book now before me,
by Logan, published in Scotland, and in this country, that the old heresy
of MacjDherson is by him revived ; to which I oppose the opinions of
Laing, Pinkerton, Dr. Johnson, Sir Walter Scott, the Edinburgh Re-
view, Sir James Mackintosh, Nicholson, Warner, and common sense.

The learned Dr. Young, Bishop of Clonfert, an erudite Irish
scholar, went to Scotland himself, in 1784, to search for Gaelic
poetry. The following extract from his letter from the Highlands,
on the subject of his mission, is given by the Gaelic Society of
Dublin : " The Irish language is spoken with considerable accuracy
in many parts of the Highlands of modern Scotland. This I conclude
from having conversed with several gentlemen of this country with the
greatest ease and familiarity ; and I must add that none of them
refused an immediate and unequivocal acknowledgment that the Gaelic
of Scotland was a dialect of the mother tongue of Ireland, as well as
the Highland Scots were the descendants of a colony from the mother
country. They readily assented to the dishonorable fabrication of
Macpherson, and declared they knew, from undisputed tradition, that
Fingal, Oisin, Oscar, and all the other Finnian heroes, were Irishmen."
The bishop, in another publication, charges Macpherson with altering
the old manuscripts, erasing the name of St. Patrick, varying dates,
&;c., so as to enable him to build upon these a Scotch fame. The
talented Pepper speaks of the affair thus : " Has not the voice of
literary Europe reproached them [the Scotch] for national vanity, in
pluming themselves with borrowed feathers clandestinely plucked from
the wings of Irish songsters ? and for clothing the meagre, deformed,
and decayed skeleton of their history in garments stolen from the
wardrobes of our learned antiquarians and annalists ? Macpherson was
certainly a poet, whose talents had graduated in the Parnassian col-
lege ; and, while we deny him the honor due to candor, we cordially
concede that these poems, which we award him the full credit of
having framed from fragments of Irish poetry, possess traces of genius
that would have reflected credit on even the best epic of Homer."
James Macpherson was born at Inverness, 1738. In 1758, he pub-
lished his first fragments of ancient poetry collected in the Scottish
Highlands; in 1762, he produced Fingal; in 1763, Temora and
others. He died in 1796.

Here we introduce tv^^o specimens of poetry of the Oisianic age.
The first is from Baron Harold's translation of some of these frag-
ments. It is a remonstrance addressed by Fion MCoumhall to his

FINGAIi's REMONSTRANCE. 171

son Oisin, on choosing a wife. The second is the lament of Oisin,
in his old age, for the loss of his sight. It equals, in my opinion, the
lamentation of Milton on the same bereavement. It is remarkable
that the three great poets, Homer, Milton, and Oisin, were each
totally blind for many years of their lives.

REMONSTRANCE OF FION M'COUMHALL, (FINGAL,) ADDRESSED
TO HIS SON, ON THE CHOICE OF A WIFE.

"My son, of the noble line
Of Heremonian heroes !
Thou gallant descendant of Erin's kings !
The down of youth grows on thy cheek ;
Martial renown is loud in thy praise;
Romans fear thee ; their eagles
Were dazzled by the lightning of thy spear!
They flew before thee like timid birds
Before the hawks of Leinster!
Is it in the morning of thy fame,
Bright with the sunbeams of martial gloiy,
That thou wouldst ally thyself
With the daughter of tlie Pict,
And thus sully
The royal purity of Milesian blood ?

Thy country is proud of thy exploits,

And the royal virgins of Erin

Sigh for thy love,

While Cormac's bards

Sing the deeds of thy bravery,

In the battles of the mighty !

O, tlien, Oisin,

Of dulcet hai-mony.

Listen to tlie voice of thy father.

Albanian maids are fair,

But fairer and lovelier are

The chaste daughters of thine own

Wave-washed isle

Of wood-crested hills !

Go to thy happy isle; to Branno's

Grass-covered field.

Ever-Alien, the most brilliant gem

In ti.e diadem of female loveliness,

The trembling dove of innocence,

And the daughter of my friend,

Deserves thy attachment;

172 oisin's lamentation.

The pure blood of Milesius

Glows in her guileless heart,

And flows in her blue veins ;

Majestic beauty

Flows around her as a robe of light,

And modesty, as a precious veil,

Heightens her youthful charms.

She is as lovely

As the mountain flower,

When the ruddy beams of the rising sun

Sparkle on its dew-gemmed side !

Go I take thy arms,

Embark in yonder dark-bosomed ship,

Which soon will bear you

Over ocean's foam.

To green Brannd's streamy vales,

Where you will win

A pure virgin heart, that

Never yet heaved with a sigh of love !

For thee, the vernal rose of passion

Will first

ESuse its sweetness through her sighs,

And blush in all its beauty on her cheeks."

OISIN'S LAMENTATION FOR THE LOSS OF HIS SIGHT.

"O thou that rollest above!
Round as the shield of my fatliers, —
Whence are thy beams, O sun.
Thy everlasting light?
Thou comest forth in thy awful beauty,
And the stars hide their heads in the sky;
The moon, cold and pale.
Sinks in the western wave ;
But thou thyself alone,
Who can be a companion of thy course ?
The oaks of the mountains fall ;
The mountains themselves decay with years ,
The ocean sinks, and grows again ;
The moon herself is lost in heaven ;
But thou art forever the same.
Rejoicing in the brightness of thy course !
When the world is dark with tempests.
When thunder rolls and lightning flies,
Thou lookest in thy beauty from the clouds,
And laughest at the storm!
But to Oisin thou lookest in vain,

oisin's lamentation. 173

For he beholds thy beams no more,

Whether thy yellow hair flows

On the eastern clouds, or

Thou trerablest at the gates of the west;

But thou art perhaps like me,

For a season, and thy years will have an end;

Thou shalt sleep in thy clouds,

Careless of the voice of the morning.

Exult, then, O sun !

In the strength of thy youth !

Age is dark and unlovely;

It is like the glimmering

Of the mom, when

It shines through broken clouds ;

And the mist is on the hills.

The blast of the north is on the plain,

And the traveller shrinks

In the midst of his journey ! " *

There are many other poets of Erin, from whose works I shall
produce occasional specimens. Goldsmith's beautiful poetry is in every
body's mouth. Furlong's sentimental and euphonious compositions
ought to be equally circulated. The Irish bards of the present age, at
whose head Moore, Davis, and Barry proudly stand, are fully equal to
the bards of any age or of any nation. Some emanations of their
splendid genius will be found scattered along these pages. Those
who would understand and cultivate Irish poetry have an opportunity
herein to judge of its varied properties, and to appreciate, which I
humbly hope they will, the selections I have made, and look kindly
on my own humble dabbling in the sublime art.

* Within the present year a valuable manuscript copy of poems, written by Oisin,
was discovered buried in an old church near Belfast. The precious relic was incased
in an iron chest. It is written on vellum, in the ancient Irish character. The prop-
erty on which it was discovered belonging to the Dublin corporation, the manuscript
was claimed and taken possession of by that body, but was given out by them to the
ArchaBological Society, to be translated. Some of the poems have alre;idy appeared
in English, and transcend, in majestic beauty, any of those previously published by
Macpherson.

174

MUSIC AND POETRY.

O! BLAME NOT THE BARD.

BY MOORE.

I have in this, as in other instances, taken liberties with Moore. I am quite aware
of the presumption of the act, and my only apology is my fervent desire to ani-
mate the hearts of my countrymen. When Moore wrote this affecting piece, he
was smarting under the insinuations of his countrymen, that he devoted his tal-
ents more to pleasure than to patriotic exertions. He had been a living witness
of his country's glory, and her fall. He saw her deprived of freedom, bleeding,
prostrate, and destitute even of the hope to recover. At such a moment his muse
was melancholy, and mingled her sighs, and tears, and moans, in one passionate
flood. But Ireland's wounds are almost healed ; her tears are dried up ; her vigor
and courage have returned, and she stands erect, calling on the plunderers of her
liberty for its restoration. At such a moment, I may be pardoned by the patri-
otic for adding an appropriate stanza to this beautiful song. It is the concluding
one, — in Italics.

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MUSIC AND POETRY.

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176

MUSIC AND POETRY.

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But alas ! for his country — her pride is gone by,

And that spirit is broken which never would bend;
O'er the ruin her children in secret must sigh,

For 'tis treason to love her, and death to defend.
Unprized are her sons till they've learned to betray ;

Undistinguished they live, if they shame not their sires ;
And the torch, that would light them through dignity's way,

Must be caught from the pile where their country expires !

Then blame not the bard, if in pleasure's soft dream

He should try to forget what he never can heal ;
O ! give but a hope, let a vista but gleam

Through the gloom of his country, and mark how he'll feel !
That instant his heart at her shrine would lay down

Every passion it nursed, every bliss it adored.
While the myrtle, now idly entwined with his crown.

Like the wreath of Harmodius, should cover his sword.*

But, though glory be gone, hope fades not aivay ;
Thy name, loved Erin ! shall live in his songs ;

• See the hymn, attributed to Alcaeus, "I will carry my sword, hidden in myr-
tles, like Harmodius and Aristogilon," etc.

MUSIC AND POETRY. 117

Not even in the hour when his heart is most gay,

Will he lose the remembrance of thee and thy wrongs!

The stranger shall hear thy lament on his plains ;
The sigh of thy harp shall be sent o'er the deep,

Till thy masters themselves, as they rivet thy chains,
Shall pause at the song of their captive, and weep !

But arise, dearest Erin ! the home of the brave !

The birthplace of heroes, and sages of light !
Send your voice of complaint arid resolve o'er the ivave,

And the nations shall join in your cause and your fight !
And the God that protected his children before.

Whom the tyrant of Egypt oppressed in his might,
Shall watch o'er the struggle around your green shore.

And bless the brave arms of your sons in the fight !

LEWIS O'MORE.

rhe following stanzas were sung for me by a friend, to the foregoing air, with a
great deal of feeling, and affected me much. They evidently belong to a by-
gone age, and must be a translation from an ancient ode in the Irish language.
O'More was an illustrious chieftain of Leinster. The chief of the sept was a To-
parch, and ranked next to the Leinster kings. This song is founded on his
exploits at the battle of Clontarf, in the year 1016. But in the wars with the
English invaders, for more than four hundred years, the O'Mores of Leix and
Offalley proved to be the unconquerable enemies of England, and maintained
their independence. [Sir Thomas More, the first illustrious victim to the tyranny
of Henry the Eighth, was a scion from this house.] Their power crumbled, and
their territory was confiscated, after the treacherous butchery of the three hun-
dred Leinster chiefs at Mullaghmast, in the reign of Queen Mary, — for which,
see " Mullaghmast."

Remember the days when thy children, dear Erin,
In myriads assembled around thy green shore,

When the cross and the harp, on thy bright banner beaming,
Were borne by the chieftains of Lewis O'More !
23

178

MUSIC AND POETRY.

When the heroic legions, to battle descending,

Embossed their bright skians in the invader's gore ;

While the blood of its guardians, spontaneously blending,
Round the banners of Erin and Lewis O'More !

Bright gleamed the sword of O'More 'mid the strong,

And fierce was the look he bestowed on the foe;
They shrunk with dismay from his firm knit brow,

Though Odin still tried to avert their o'erthrow 1
But still, while the harp of thy minstrel is glowing

With grief that the hero of our isle is no more.
Let us send the cup round, with the grape treasures flowing,

To Malachy, Morrough, and Lewis O'More !

BEAUTY IN TEARS,

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MUSIC.

179

MACFARLANE'S LAMENTATION.

(CUOMA MAC PHARLAIN.)

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LECTURE VI.

THE MUSIC OF IRELAND.

A Harper and Poet accompany the Milesians to Ireland. — Ireland deemed ibe
Island of Apollo. — Origin of vocal Music. — Origin of the Harp. — The Irish
Harp. — Superior to the Greek Lyre. — Music mixed in all the Ceremonials
of the ancient Irish. — How the Music of Ireland was constructed. — Its Nature.

— Its Effect on a Nation. — Greece not the School of Music. — Fragment of
Grecian Music found in Ireland. — Its inferior Quality proved by Burney. —
Romans ignorant of Music. — Irish Bagpipes. — Ireland the true School of
Music. — Revolution effected by Music. — Ode of Moriat. — The Harp and
Bagpipes of the Irish gave Bass and Treble. — The Harp of the ancient Irish the
Piano-Forte of the Moderns. — Irish addicted to Music before the Christian
Era. — Christian Missionaries adopt the Irish Music, and introduce it into the
Churches. — Ireland preserved Literature, Science, and Music, when Rome fell.

— Irishmen imparted musical Notation, as well as grammatical Punctuation, to
Europe. — Terms of ancient Notation. — Specimen of the ancient Notation pre-
served for unnumbered Generations in the Family of the Cavanaghs. — Two
Schools for Music in Europe. — Efforts of the first Christian Fathers to form a
Code of Church Music. — The Gregorian Chants established A. D. 600. —
Ireland full of her own Church Music one hundred and fifty Years previously. —
Musical Modes and Rules well known in Ireland. — Ireland the musical School
of Western Europe. — Rhyme in Poetry an Irish Invention. — Proofs. — Moore's
Opinion. — Camden's Opinion. — Several Pieces in the Gregorian Chants com-
posed by Irishmen. — Columbanus, an Irishman, introduced Irish Music into
Germany and France. — Irish musical School totally different from the Latin. —
Opinion of Cambrensis. — Wales derived her Music from Ireland. — Caradoc's
Opinion. — Ledwich's Opinion. — Twenty-four Irish musical Laws introduced
into Wales. — Musical Schools of the Irish. — Italy derived the Harp and Rules
of Playing from Ireland. — The Violin of Irish Origin. — Scotch Music essen-
tially Irish. — Proof. — Opinions of English Writers on Irish Music. — Improve-
ments in the Irish Harp. — The Horn. — The Organ. — The Piano-Forte formed
from the Harp. — Power of various Instruments. — Music of England. — Speci-
men of the first Notes used. — Luther introduced Music into his Churches. —
George the Fourth introduces two hundred Strains. — Handel, rejected in
London, received and applauded in Dublin. — Change in the Character of Irish
Music. — Persecution of the Minstrels. — Irish Music adapted to the Passions of
Love and Sorrow. — Truly constructed. — Irish Musicians copied the Sounds
of Men, Birds, and Beasts, on their Harjvsirings. — Variety of Character of
Irish Music. — Lament of the Minstrel O'Gnieve. — Suppression and Decline of
Irish Music. — O'Kane, Carolan, Jackson, &c. — Revival of Irish Music after
1782. — Belfast musical Convention in 1792. — Assembly of Irish Harpers. — Mr.
Bunting's Notes of that Meeting. — Mathematical Examination of the Structure
of the Irish Harp. — The old Irish Bards formed their Harps agreeably to the
Philosophy of Sound. — "The Harp of Tara." — Its History. — Musical Glasses
invented by an Irishman. — Moore revives the Music of Ireland. — General
Revival of Irish Music. — Lover. — Balfe. — Successful Composers. — Italian

IRELAND DEEMED THE ISLAND OF APOLLO.

181

Opinion of Irish Music. -Present musical Spirit of Ireland.- General Effects
of Music. -Attempt to define its Nature. - Style of most of the fashionable
Ferformers.- Scientific Examination of Sound. - Its Laws.- Echoes - Organs o
Hearing. -Musical Keys. -Nature of the Voice. - Mechanism of the Throat,
Chest, &c.- Laws of Wind Instruments. -Nurses should «i"g *« ^"f "^^^• "
Hints to public Singers. -Moore's Suggestions for singing his Irish Melodies.
-Willis's Description of Moore's Singing. -Moore's Visit to the Dublm
Theatre. — Eflfect of an Irish Tune on the Boston Public.

The music of Ireland is all that her oppressors have left her. That
proud attribute even Cambrensis allowed her seven hundred years ago.
That Ireland was the school for music to the Western nations for ages,
I am, I trust, able to prove ; that she possessed musical notations, and a
series of the most exact and minute rules for poetry and music, her
annals testify ; very old manuscripts, containing the rules and the
notations anciently in use, have been produced by Walker. Facsim-
iles of the ancient notes will be found in the course of this section,
which when the reader has perused, together with other proofs of a
like nature, he must then admit the preeminence of Ireland over all the
nations of Europe, in this ancient and fascinating branch of human science.
On the first arrival of the Milesian colony in Ireland, there were
places and positions assigned to the Dmids, poets, and musicians
AmbergUn, one of the sons of Milesius, the brother of Heber and
Heremon, first kings of the island, was the chief Druid bard, the head
of the order. This proves that poetry was then a special study, and
its professors an ascertained class. The old historians tell us that the
brother-kings, Heber and Heremon, quarrelled about the exclusive reten-
tion of two°celebrated sons of song, viz., Cirmacsis, a poet, and Onna
Ceanfin, a harper; but that, on the arbitration of Amberghin, the
poet was adjudged to Heremon, and the musician to Heber. The
incident proves that mu/ic and poetry were passionately cherished by
the ancient Irish. A well-attested fact like this, occurring upwards of
three thousand years ago, in Ii'eland, ought to be received as strong
evidence of the general prevalence of musical taste amongst the people.
But we have much stronger proofs than this. Heccataus, the ancient
Egyptian historian, quoted by Diodorus, describes Ireland, then called
Hyberborea, as having in it a city, in the midst of a grove, where the
priests of Apollo sang the praises of that god, mingling their voices
with the sounds of the harp. -The following is the passage, according
to Booth's translation : " They say that Latona was born here, and,
therefore, that they worshipped Apollo above all other gods ; and,
because they are daily singing songs in praise of this god, and ascribing

182 ORIGIN OF VOCAL MUSIC. ORIGIN OF THE HARP.

to him the highest honors, they say that these inhabitants demean
themselves as if they were Apollo's priests, who has here a stately
grove, and renowned temple, of round form, beautified with many rich
gifts ; that there is a city likewise consecrated to this god, whose citi-
zens are most of them harpers, xvho, playing on the harp, chant sa-
cred hymns to Apollo in the temple, setting forth his glorious acts."
This was written of Ireland five hundred years before the Christian era.
The musical ceremonies in the temple of Apollo were nothing more
than the worship of the sun, which was sometimes called Baal, and
again Apollo. The ceremony consisted in part of vocal chants, in
which the music of the harp was blended. The island, in that age,
was deemed ancient by the contemporary nations. It was called, even
then, the " Holy Island," a name suggested by the strong disposition
evinced by its people to celebrate their religious ceremonies with great
pomp and excitement, and also from its having been made, by the
Phoenician colony which first settled in it, the centre of their radiating
instruction to the communities that began to grow around in Albion,
Wales, and Caledonia.

I have already proved the intimate connection that subsisted between
ancient Egypt and ancient Ireland. The whole system of worship,
music, science, and art, as then known in Egypt, was carried into Ire-
land. This relationship existed ages before Greece had either letters or
political existence.

The Irish of those ancient days, like their relatives in Egypt, practised
but a few simple musical sounds. These were regulated by the human
voice. The first sound uttered by the open mouth, in a natural key,
vi'as called A. That sound was fixed as the standard note. They
faried the voice above and below that standard, producing an agreeable
variation of vocal sounds. And this is music, — the fii'st and purest sup-
plied by nature. A good voice was found capable of producing sixteen
tones, perfectly distinct from each other, agreeing in number with the
sixteen sounds represented by the sixteen letters of the old Irish al-
phabet, which was the alphabet first used in Egypt. These are
measured by two octaves, of eight tones to each octave.

It is probable that ages passed away ere Egypt had arrived at the
improved eleven-stringed harp. In the times of Solomon, David, and
Moses, a harp was used ; but it may have had then only five or
eight strings. There still exist on the monuments at Thebes, in Egypt,
figures of the ancient instrument, chiseled into the enduring granite.
The harp must have been first formed from the bow of the archer.

THE IRISH HARP SUPERIOR TO THE GIIF.EK LYRE. 183

The sound of the bowstring would indeed suggest the existence of music
in that simple instrument. It did, in fact, suggest the idea. The first
harps, as appears by the models sculptured on the Theban monuments,
were formed simply like the bent bow of the warrior. The strings were
few at first, producing only five or six notes. The improved harp, of
eleven strings, was, no doubt, the result of many experiments, which,
when accomplished, was deemed worthy of eternal perpetuation on
stone. It was simply the bent bow of the archer, generally about five
feet long, the longest string giving the bass note, and the others, short-
ening with the arc of the semicircle, gave the intermediate tones, up to
the treble, according to their respective lengths. The date of this im-
provement may be fixed with that of Thebes itself, which was in the
zenith of its consequence about three thousand five hundred years ago.
The harps brought into Ireland by the Milesian colony were of thai
fashion, as we find by some old traditional sketches.

The improvements made in the harp are altogether Irish. The
Greeks do not seem ever to have had an instrument like our harp.
There is frequent mention made by their poets of a lyre. As they
received all their instructions in literature and arts from Egypt, it is
probable the old bent boiv of the Egyptians passed over into Gjeece ;
but the Greeks worked it into an instrument differing widely from the
harp. One of those lyres, having eight strings, was found in a tomb at
Athens. Its form is that of the bow, bent till the points nearly meet,
which are then bound together- Strings are fastened in the centre, and
drawn to the united points ; but, from the construction of this instru-
ment, it was incapable of extension, or of much modulation. And
MontfauQon remarks, that " Greek instruments had no contrivances for
shortening the strings." So that they must have been unacquainted
with the expansive and vibrating character of the harp. The lyre
usually put into the hands of Apollo, by painters and poets, is fash-
ioned after that found at Athens. But it would be far more cor-
rect to put the Irish harp into the hands of the musical god, seeing,
from Heccat^us, that he was worshipped by tiie ancient Irish with the
voice of song and the sounds of the harp, during the vernal equinox,
before the Greeks arrived, if ever they arrived, at an advanced stage of
musical refinement.

That the ancient Irish cultivated the music of the voice, and of
instruments, is proved in every page of their history. Music mixed in
every ceremonial. In their sun worship, the song of praise and thanks-
giving was raised to the giver, in their opinion, of fniits, and regulator of

184 MUSIC MIXED IN THE CEREMONIALS OF THE IRISH. ITS EFFECTS.

the seasons. At their funerals, the voice of lamentation was vented under
the control of musical notation. In the battle, the harper bards led on
the warrior hosts. At the festive board, and in the banquet hall, there
also the voice of music stimulated the joyous passions. On all these
occasions, the harper bards caught the most touching sounds of human
sensations as they rose, and copied them on their harp-strings. These
were, upon succeeding occasions, struck out again from their strings, to
kindle in other hearts emotions similar to those which gave them birth.
In this manner, a series of the most touching sounds was formed by the
Irish bards into a code of melody, which has lasted through unnum-
bered ages. This melody, whenever played according to nature's
rules, (ever the same, in all ages,) never fails to reach the human heart,
and awaken therein the self-same sensations that originally gave ex-
istence to the melody itself.

For this reason, the music of Ireland has attracted the encomiums of
all the surrounding nations. The elegant and erudite Walker remarks,
that " the Irish music is, in some degree, distinguished from the music
of every other nation, by an insinuating sweetness, which forces its way
irresistibly to the heart, and there diffuses an ecstatic delight that thrills
through every fibre of the frame, awakens sensibility, and agitates or
tranquillizes the soul. Whatever passion it may be intended to excite
it never fails to awaken. It is the voice of nature, and will be heard.
We speak of the music of the ancient Irish ; for music, like language, the
nearer we remount to its rise amongst men, the moie it will be found to
partake of a natural expression." And Dr. O'Conor dilates upon the
same idea thus : " In every concert, the abhram, or song, accompanied
the instrumental music, and the ode was invariably adapted to the spe-
cies intended, whether the heroic, the dolorous, or the somniferous. By
this you find that our ancients in Ireland were far from being strangers
to the powers of hannonized sound, in directing, as well as exciting, the
human passions. Sotmds were therefore cultivated and modified, so as
to produce extraordinary civil and political effects on the minds of men.''*

This attention to the cultivation of the musical art evinces a degree
of refinement of manners and of soul amongst the Irish, which few
other nations can equally claim. " If a rnan, naturally rough, becomes
softened, /or the <{me, by music, — if those times are continually re-
newed,— habit will take the place of nature, and that man's character will,
to a certain degree, change." — Sherlock. — So a nation kept continually
under the influence of music must become softened, susceptible, refined.
And yet there are English writers, who have, to aid the base purposes

FRAGMENT OF GREEK MUSIC. 185

of tyranny, written down the ancient Irish, and the modern Irish also,
as a barbarous people, though their passionate cultivation of music, in
all ages, would of itself confront and abash the calumny.

Collins, who wrote the Ode on the Passions, recited so often by our
schoolboys, began it with a falsehood —

" When Music, heavenly maid, was young,
While yet in early Greece she sung."

Collins was an Englishman, and though he knew in his heart that Ire-
land, not Greece, had the best claim to the honorable distinction of
school for young Music, yet, to sing it, or even admit it, would make
his ode and himself unpopular amongst his countrymen. He therefore
starts with his musical rhapsody from Greece ; and while we admire his
composition, we are grieved to think that the genius of poetry should,
in his person, bend, in a falsehood, to the genius of tyranny.

There is no evidence, either on the page of history or in musical tra-
dition, of any very great excellence to which the Greeks attained in
music. Moore, quoting Anacharsis, says, " The sweetness of their an-
cient music had already been lost when all the other arts were but on
their way to perfection ; " and Wood, in his Essay on Homer, has the
following : " The old, chaste Greek melody was lost in refinement
before their other arts had acquired perfection." But we have the
means of ascertaining the character of Greek music, furnished by a frag-
ment of their own composition, in the days of their highest degree of
refinement. It is an astronomical hymn, composed by Dionysius. It
is in three parts. The first was dedicated to Calliope ; the second, to
Apollo ; the third, to Remisius. This fragment has marked upon it the
very notes by which the Greeks chanted it. And, curiously enough, it
was discovered in the sixteenth century, by Archbishop Usher, in the
archives of the cathedral of Armagh, in Ireland. When this ancient
fragment was given to the world, it created a strong excitement, espe-
cially in the musical circles. Galleli, the Italian composer, published
it, in 1587, with musical notes, in his Dialogue upon Ancient and
Modern Music.

This fragment, having occupied the attention of the learned and
musical world for a long period, is thus defined, in the scale of ex-
cellence, by the great Burney, whose work on music is a standard
authority : —

" In reference to those ancient melodies, I have only to say, that no
pains have been spared to place them in the clearest and most favorable
24

186 ROMANS IGNORANT OF MUSIC. IRISH BAGPIPES.

point of view ; and yet, with all the advantage of modern notes and
modern measures, if I am told that they came from the Cherokees or
the Hottentots, I should not be surprised at the degree of excellence
they possess. There is music that all mankind, in civilized countries,
would allow to be good ; hut these fragments are certainly not of that
sort; for, with all the light that can be thrown upon them, they have
still hut a rude and inelegant effect, and seem wholly unworthy of so
refined and sentimental a people as the Gireeks ; especially if we sub-
scribe to the high antiquity that has been given to two of the hymns,
which makes them productions of that period of time, when arts and
sciences were arrived in Greece to a very high point of perfection."

From these proofs the candid *mind must conclude that the taste of
the Greeks did not favor very much the growth of music. That is all I
contend for here. At another stage in this work, I shall enter into a
short comparison between the Greek and Roman political institutions,
laws, customs, morals, &ic., and those of Ireland, in parallel ages.

As to the Romans, thqy knew nothing worth naming of music, and
this Cicero himself admits. We have heard that " Nero fiddled while
Rome was burning ; " but the fact is, Nero never saw a fiddle : he had a
sweet voice, and sang, in the theatre, for days, and even nights, without
stopping : on some occasions he punished his courtiers for nodding asleep
during his performance ; and it is said he wrote nearly all his orders
connected with his government, to save his voice. The chief instrument
of the Romans was a blow-pipe, resembling the Scotch bagpipe. It is
said, indeed, that the Scotch have modeled their bagpipes from the Ro-
man. The Irish bagpipe is a different kind of instrument. It has a set of
drone pipes, which give a base an octave lower than the chanter pipe : all
these pipes are supplied by wind from a bag, into which it is puffed by a
bellows strapped to one arm of the player, while the other arm squeezes
the wind-bag which supplies all the pipes. The bagpipe, as thus de-
scribed, is thoroughly an Irish musical instrument, and is of very great
antiquity. In the ancient parliamentary assemblies of Tara, a place
was set apart for the cushlas, the Irish name of the players on the bag-
pipe, so denominated because the instrument was worked by the inside
of the arm, the region of the arteries which run to the heart.

Let us now turn to Ireland, and examine for ourselves what her an-
cient claims are to musical reputation. We have seen that the Egyp-
tian historian, in describing the ancient Irish, noticed their musical
exercises on the harp. The history of Ireland is studded all over with
the deeds of the bards and musicians. Indeed, most of the bards were

REVOLUTION EFFECTED BY MUSIC. 187

also musicians, and taught the divine art to the youth' of both sexes. In
the fragments of old Irish poetry which have come down to us, we find
numberless allusions to ladies of other days, who struck the harp with
fairy fingers, accompanied with strains from their own hearts, which
melted those of their hearers, even as the sun's rays melt down the snow.
A daughter of Erin is thus described by a bard who wrote two thousand
years ago : —

" The daughter of Moran seized the harp !
And her voice of music praised the strangers.
Their souls melted at the song,
Like a wreath of snow before the eye of the sun ! "

Another, of the same age, is thus described : —

" The spouse of Thrathal had remained in her house ;
Two children rose with their fair locks about her knees;
They bend their ears above the harp,
As she touched with her white hand
Its trembling strings. She stops.
They take the harp themselves,
But cannot find tlie sound which they admired.
'Why,' they said, 'does it not answer us?
Show us the string wherein dwells the song ! '
She bids them search for it till she returns.
Their little fingers wander amongst the wires."

About three hundred and fifty years before the Christian era, a revo-
lution was brought about in Ireland, by the power of music, in the
following manner : The Irish monarch, Leoghaire, with several of his
sons and nobles, was murdered by his brother, Cobthaigh, who usurped
the throne. One only of the king's children, named Mahon, escaped.
His friend privately conveyed him to the hospitable mansion of the king
of Munster. Here he grew up a youth of comely person and of great
promise. During his residence at the court of Munster, he inspired the
lovely Moriat, the prince's daughter, young and beautiful as himself,
with a strong affection for him. The usurper, hearing that a young
prince and heir to his ill-gotten throne was still alive, was about to de-
clare war against the king of Munster ; whereupon, for greater safety,
Mahon fled the kingdom, and found an asylum in the court of the king
of Gaul. Here he signalized himself in that king's service, by
several brilliant actions in war.

The fame of his valor reached his faithful Moriat, and, under the in-
fluence of the divine passion which she cherished, she composed tlie fol-

188 THE ODE OF MORIAT.

lowing beautiful ode, which she instructed her harper, Craftine, to sing
to the chords of his harp, in affecting melody, and sent him in quest of
her exiled lover.

When the minstrel arrived at the quarters of Mahon, on the banks
of the Loire, in France, he took his station under his windows, and
sang the ode of Moriat.

" Warrior prince ! son of a thousand kings
Of wave-wreathed Erin!
Hast thou forgotten thine own native land,
And the imperishable glory
Of tliy sires — those
Milesian heroes, who were
Towers of fire in the battles of the valiant ?
Is the voice of Erin's harp
Still dear to recollection, and
Gladdening to the soul of Prince Mahon,
The hope of Innisfail ?
Listen, O prince, to strains
That would speak the sorrows
Of tliy oppressed country, and

The wailings of desponding love. *

Know, then, that Erin,
Thy country and kingdom.
Invokes thee, her darling son.
To return to the throne of thy fathers,
And rescue her from usurpation.
Return! return to green Aelga,
And free thy people from the yoke!
The harps of Tara breathe the sounds of woe ;
The oaks of tliy forests sigh in the breeze ;
The rocks of Meatli respond, in echoes
To the Banshee's lamentations ;
And the ghosts of thy royal fathers.
As the}' stalk over their pathway of clouds,
Call upon thee to rouse.

And make victory the footstool of thy throne !
But if tliy country cannot
Awaken pity in thy breast,
Surely love will melt
Thy heart to compassion.
As the vernal sunbeams
Dissolve the crystal mirror
Of the ice-plated Shannon,
When hoary Winter becomes
Shocked at his own imagfe.

THE ODE OF MORIAT. 189

Dost thou still remember Moriat,

The maid of thy first love ?

Has absence obliterated

The record of thy solemn vow ?

Has another, fairer, younger princess

Despoiled the heart-shrine

In which thy young affection first placed her image ?

Have you forgotten your last words,

That thy 'beloved Moriat should be

The only divinity, thy

Heart would worship?'

This fondly-remembered declaration
Is the very life of her hope.
The bright beacon that shines
In the wilderness of her heart!
Return, O wandering warrior,
To the maiden of thy vow.
Thy presence would brighten
The darkness of her woe ! , . •

O, Mahon ! canst thou resist
The double claim of country
And of love ?

Come, gallant prince, of the race of heroes,
To the halls of thy sires,
And at the head of the warriors of Erin,
Let your might be like the spirit of the tempest
Uprooting tlie pines of the hill,
And your vengeance as terrible
As the mountain torrent
Sweeping over the valley of
The husbandman.

Hasten, then, O, hasten
To the fields of exploit of thy glorious sires.
Here their spirits will inspire tliee with courage,
And nerve thee with
Supernatural power.
And give thy martial arm force
To prostrate the usurper of thy throne."

The prince, filled with the passion of resistless love, and the fires of a
lofty ambition, prevailed on the French king to grant him an expedition
to recover his throne. He was successful — he landed, and marched
directly to the palace of the murderer of his father, and destroyed him
and his guards. His success soon flew out on the winds of fame. His
first act was to marry his faithful Moriat. His marriage and coronation
were the grandest known in Ireland for many previous reigns.

190 THE KAHP OF THE IRISH THE PRESENT PIANO-FORTE.

Both the harp and the bagpipes of the ancient Irish gave a bass. This,
standing alone, would be an incontrovertible evidence of their thorough
knowledge of music, with its counterpoint, bass, and harmonies. Some
of the musical writers say that counterpoint, bass, and harmony, were not
known in Europe till the eleventh century, and erroneously attribute the
invention of these improvements to Guido. Now, the very construction
of these ancient Irish instruments — the harp and bagpipes — must dis-
prove a part of this assertion. It is true that bass, counterpoint, and har-
mony, were not known in the south of Europe till the eleventh century ;
but it is not equally true that Guido invented them, inasmuch as they
were familiar to the Irish musicians several centuries before that period.

The harp, in the course of ages, was enlarged by the Irish musicians,
from eleven strings, the old Egyptian number, to thirty-two, which gave
them sixteen tones, or two octaves, below C, and sixteen tones, or two
octaves, above that note, forming a comprehensive scale, which com-
prised the full complement of bass and treble tones. The harpers
touched the instrument with both their hands, one of the hands sounding
bass notes, and the other the treble, as players upon the self-same
instrument, in the piano-forte, do at present. — The piano-forte of the
present day is simply the Irish harp, placed horizontally in a box, and
struck by machinery. — The old Irish harpers obtained their flats and
sharps by pressing the string about to be struck with the thumb of one
hand, while they struck it with the fingers of the other. This old con-
trivance was done away by the introduction of the pedal. Thus each
string concealed three tones. The Irish harp produced a great number
of tones and semitones — perhaps one hundred — affording compass
enough for bass and harmonies ; and the harp even now supplies the
greatest number of octaves or sounds of any instrument except the
organ. No other nation, either in Europe or in any other part of the
world, cultivated the harp. It is Ireland's exclusively. It is graven on
her banners. It is graven on her people's hearts. It is the symbol of
their nation. The guitar, the violin, and many other instruments, are
variations and derivatives from the harp ; but the " harp of Erin " is
Erin's own, and

"Must still be respected,
While there lives but one bard to enliven its tone."

The old Irish bagpipes, as I have said, afforded, in its three drone
pipes, a comprehensive bass. Two of the drones were pitched equal to
D, on the chanter pipe, and one an octave, or eight tones, lower. The
chanter or treble pipe gave eight or ten notes, which, by a stiff blast,

IRISH ADDICTED TO JIUSIC BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN ERA. 191

were run up the entire of the G clifF, in the same manner that the flute
is made to play. The flat and sharp notes were obtained by playing
in a particular way the end of the chanter on a leather strap, fastened
to the knee, and by half stopping the finger-holes of the chanter ;
and the drone pipes were so contrived that the player could lengthen
and shorten them at pleasure, deepening or contracting his bass accord-
ing to the demands of the strain played by the chanter.

More than enough of evidence is herein offered, to show that the an-
cient Irish understood bass, counterpoint, and harmony. If I have not
already wearied out the reader's patience, I beg him to accompany me
through this inquiry. The ear and heart, attuned to music, will be
pleased to trace the progress of this fascinating art, through countless
ages, from its infancy to its present maturity. As I said already, Rome
knew nought of music. The amusements of that brutal nation consist-
ed chiefly of inhuman exercises, involving the sacrifice of hundreds of
thousands of human beings, in the amphitheatres, where the admiring
eyes of patrician beauty gloated on sights of blood, and heard with
ecstasy the groans of the dying. Practices such as these, continued for
upwards of seven hundred years, suffocated all the tender or sensitive
feelings of humanity, which alone can appreciate and foster music.

It will be seen, when we come to the times of St. Patrick, and the
introduction of Christianity into Ireland, that the people were passionate-
ly addicted to music, both vocal and instrumental. Their sun worship,
their funerals, their wars, their games, and their festivities, were all at-
tended by musical performances. The apostle of the cross brought no
singers with him into Ireland ; he brought no music ; but he found it
there. The pagan deeds and ceremonies of their ancestors he found
celebrated and sung, by the Irish poets, in the most fascinating versifi-
cation, attuned to strains of touching melody. The poetry he destroyed,
but the music he turned to the purposes of Christianity. He induced
them to turn their musical strains towards God and his Son, instead of
Baal. Christian objects. Christian heroes and saints, held the place of
pagan heroes and deities, in their public chants. During the lifetime
of St. Patrick, several hundred churches were erected throughout Ire-
land. Many universities and monasteries were also established. In
some of the latter, the monks formed choirs which consisted of hundreds
of singers. In the abbey of Benchoir, which was founded in Carrick-
fergus, in the North of Ireland, in the beginning of the sixth centuiy,
there were three thousand monks, all of whom, in turn, joined in an
eternal song of praise to the Almighty. No fewer than three hundred

192 MUSIC INTRODUCED INTO THEIR CHURCHES.

at a time were so engaged, and when those had performed their share
of the holy duty, they were reheved by others, and so on, throughout
the night as well as the day, from year to year. In this way the song
of praise to God was kept up for many ages. The term Ben-choir, the
Irish appellation of this abbey, means sweet music. Archdale says,
"The abbey of Mungret, near Limerick, contained, for many ^gQ^, fif-
teen hundred religious persons, of whom five hundred were skilled
in psalmody, to serve continually in the choirJ'

In truth, the monks of the various monasteries established throughout
Ireland, cherished, practised, and taught music, inventing several ad-
ditional rules for its government, suggested by a passionate cultivation
of the science ; and, as the elaborate Burney hath remarked, " the
national music of a country is good or bad in proportion to that of its
church music," so may we readily give our belief to the advanced
state of musical science claimed for Ireland at the era we are consider-
ing, viz., the sixth century of Christianity. On the general introduc-
tion of Christianity into Ireland, through the mission of St. Patrick, in
the previous century, the Roman or Latin language was universally
established in all the church offices. The natural influence exerted by
the church over the newly-converted Irish, exalted, in their estimation,
to a certain extent, the language of its ritual over their own. Hence
their musical and religious terms were gradually clothed in the language
(Latin) used by the priesthood. Some writers have, on this very slender
ground, alleged that the Irish received their musical knowledge from
the church missionaries who came from Rome ; but this is a fallacy.
On the decline of the Roman empire in the fifth and sixth centuries,
th.e ancient seat of their government fell into the hands of the barbarian
tribes, who rushed from every side upon the centre of that power
which oppressed them.

Every thing connected with the cultivation of mind was swept away
by the infuriate deluge. Even the Latin tongue, the language of the
Roman empire, became in a short time mixed with the barbarous
dialects of all those nations, which sent in their hostile legions to destroy
her. The knowledge of writing the Latin language was nearly lost,
and its old pronunciation completely so. The few books which escaped
the fury of war were written in Roman or Etruscan capitals, without
the least distinction or division of words or sentences. All was chaos
in government, law, literature, and music, throughout Europe. And
it was in Ireland alone, where the eagles of conquering Rome never
were suffered to perch, that all the higher attributes of civilization

IRISH MUSICAL NOTATION. 193

remained in pristine vigor, and continued, undisturbed by civil commo-
tion, to approximate to matured excellence.

Even the language of fallen Rome was preserved in its original
integrity by the Christian priesthood of Ireland, and by them carefully
cultivated, and restored, improved, to the schools of Europe, when
order was at length reestablished by Charlemagne. The English
nation, says the English Camden, was taught Latin by Maildulphus,
a learned Irishman, anno 680. — See Camden, p. 176. — To them are
we indebted for the application of the principles of punctuation to the
Latin language. In the ages between the sixth and ninth century,
they used, says Beauford, a number of points and marks, not only to
distinguish and point out to the reader the true meaning of the different
parts of a written discourse or composition, but also to express the
several todies and inflections of the voice in which such compositions
ought to be pronounced.

These marks they divide into three species, viz., grammatical,
rhetorical, and musical. From the first two species are derived the
several stops and marks at present used in reading and writing through-
out the greater part of Europe. The third, that is, the musical, were
used in the psalms, or other divine hymns, to render the singing more
easy, and to regidate the modulation of the voice.

Walker gives a translation from an old Irish manuscript, containing
some of the ancient rules for singing, from which I quote the fol-
lowing : —

" ' The ancient Irish poems, as sung by the Jileas, harpers, &;c.,
were frequently accented, to render the singing of them more easy.
The characters thus made use of were the same as those adopted by
the Latins, differing only in power, according to the genius of the
language. A line of poetry marked, was denominated car, or a
marked line, (being the same as the Latin sulcos ;) and the characters
used therein consisted of two species, that is, the ceol, or sound, (the
tonus of the Latins,) and annal, or breath, from whence, in the Irish
tongue, car came to signify a bar or line in music, or music in general ;
and ceol, or chieol, a musical note. But ceol properly signifies sound,
and the marks under that name expressed the elevation and depression
of the voice on any syllable in musical concord, and was of three
species, that is, ceol ardceol, basceol, and circeoL The ceol in this
case marked the middle tone or pitch of the voice, (being the same as
the Latin modicus,) and in our language was seldom denoted by any
character, the syllables in this pitch being left without an accent. The
25

194 IRISH MUSICAL NOTATION.

ardceol, (the same as the Latin acutus,) thus (' ), marked over a syl-
lable, denoted that the voice was raised a third above the ceol, or middle
pitch, and, when the character was doubled, elevated the tone to the
octave. The basceol, thus marked (^), depressed the voice a third
below the ceol, and a fifth below the ardceol, (being the same as the
Latin gravis,) but, where marked double, fell a sixth below the ceol,
and an octave below the ardceol. The circeol (the same as the Latin
circumjlexus) denoted the turning or modulation of the voice, and
depended entirely on the length and power of our diphthongs and triph-
thongs ; for, as the Irish language does not delight in the harsh sounds
of consonants, there is no tongue, perhaps, where the power and variety
in the sound of the vowels are so great, in consequence of which, the
circeol varied its power according to the different inflections of the
vowels. The first species, thus marked ( -^ ), denoted the falling voice,
from a third above the ceol, to a third, and sometimes a fourth, below,
making the falling fifth or sixth, and properly belongs to the diphthongs

eu, iu, ao, and oi. The second species, thus marked {^ ), denoted

the rising voice in the fifth or sixth, passing through the intermediate

third, and was generally placed over the diphthongs and triphthongs,

•V -^ ,/s

ieu, aoi, ei, he. The third species elevated the voice a third, and fell

a third, alternately, and was marked thus ( /" ) over the accented vowel,

as ea ; but when the voice only fell or rose a single note, this ( — ' ) for
the rising note, and ( i ) for the falling.

" ' As for the semitones, they were seldom marked, being left to the
ear of the musician, according to the key he sang or played in. And
in the Irish language, all vowels, meeting in one word, without a conso-
nant between them, make but one syllable; and, however they may be
accented, the different tones are sounded in the time or length of the
syllable, whether it be long or short ; but an aspirated consonant be-
tween two vowels makes them separate syllables. This property of
the Irish language renders it exceedingly harmonious, and well calcula-
ted for poetical and musical compositions — far superior either to the
Latin or any of the modern tongues.' " — Here let the reader turn to
page 83, under the head of " Language," for a further evidence of
musical notation, in the fac-simile engraved from this old manuscript.

If the reader, who has perused these pages, still remains unsatisfied
as to the degree of excellence to which ancient Ireland attained, I will
only invite his attention to the following specimen of musical note's in
the ancient character, with the accompanying translation into modern
notation.

jtir

"-^

b-'

:>^

:ivo

vx2>

•v^ >•>

If- > ^^

ir- >

r>
ir V

SPECIMEN OF THE ANCIENT IRISH MUSICAL NOTATION. 195

The annexed ancient char-
acters were symbols of musical
sounds. They answered all
the purposes of modern notes,
which are no more. These
marks of musical modulation
must be thoroughly conclusive
as to the possession of a com-
plete musical school by the
Irish several centuries before
the days of Pope Gregory, who
sat in the pontifical chair about
594. It is true, Burney, who
saw this specimen, does not
consider that it belongs to a
period so remote ; but Burney
knew nothing of Irish history,
or the Irish language, and
viewed Ireland only through
the medium supplied by the
writings of his prejudiced coun-
trymen,*

This musical curiosity, says
Walker, was given to Mr.
Beauford by a priest, who took
it from a manuscript which had
been for many generations in
the possession of one of the
families of the Cavanaghs. The
characters in which it is written
are the Etruscan, or Latin, of
the middle ages.

^-n

^->

ir-

w->

»r

^i^

1-^

v^^

IP"

-^^

ifo

irt

IS 7^

"iiii

I am aware that there exists a difference of opinion amongst learned
writers on the point whether Ireland received most instruction m music
from, or communicated most to, the - Latins." It would be difficult 1
believe, to select any assertion, proposition, or recorded event, withm
the knowledge of man, about which there is not a difference of opinion.
One broad fact has been established by the controversy, namely, that
there were at the dawn, and during the early ages of Christianity, two
distinct musical schools in the world, viz., the Eastern and the Western.

* Burney admits, however, that the farther back he traced Irish music, the more
melodious and refined he found it to be.

196 EFFORTS TO FORM A CODE OF CHURCH MUSIC.

Some of the theological writers, who, since the reformation, wrote ad-
versely to the supremacy of Rome, have gone so far as to build some-
thing like a theological argument on the difference which they found in
the psalmody and music used in the churches immediately surround-
ing the pontifical centre, and those used in Ireland, Britain, and
Gaul.

That the Christian fathers adapted their psalms and hymns to what-
ever rules and modes they found existing in those countries which they
converted, is recorded and admitted by all the early historians. There
were hardly any of the nations destitute of some sort of musical
chant ; for melody belongs to the mental and physical formation of a
human being, and not to science. It belongs, like feeling and senti-
ment, to nature. Although, according to Burney, the Eastern nations
know nothing of bass, harmony, or counterpoint, yet we may readily
admit their practice of chanting, in strains of rude melody, the praises
of their dead or living great. The pagans of the East did this, and
observed the method of chanting with one, and responding with an-
other, set of voices. St. Paul desires the Ephesians to speak to each
other in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, (Ephesians, chap. v.
verse 19.) Though it is impossible to determine of what kind the
ecclesiastical musical modes were, yet we may conclude, from the
frequent allusions made to the subject by the immediate followers of the
apostles, that some musical order was followed, and improvement
aimed at. St. Origen, early in the third century, says, that Christians
sang psalms. The terms he uses in reference to the Christian!
psalmody are of Greek origin, which lead to the supposition that the
" rude and inehgayit " music of the Greeks was that adopted by the
Christian fathers. I have marked the definition of Greek music in
Italics, because it is not mine, but that of a great master of musical
science and history, Dr. Burney.

During the first three hundred and fifty years of Christian preaching,
the doctrine was so violently opposed, and the teachers so inhumanly
persecuted, and sacrificed, by the pagan Romans, that litde order and
less improvement could he introduced into the psalmody of the church.
It is computed that, in the space of three hundred and fifty years
from the foundation of Christianity, upwards of four millions of human
beings were put to death for professing the Christian religion. When,
in the close of the fourth century, one or two of the Roman emperors
became Christian, this horrible persecution abated, and then some
efforts were made by St. Ambrose to regulate the church psalmody.

THE GREGORIAN CHANTS. 197

About the year 384, he formed a compound chant of the Dorian,
Lydian, Mixolydian, and Phiygian tones, which were called authentic
modes. To this, his holiness Pope Gregory, in 599, added three or
four Plagal tones. The chants, thus modeled under Ambrose and
Gregory, continued for ages the songs and psalmody of the church, and
even down to our own days stand amongst its music under the general
designation of the "Gregorian chants." They were the first efforts of
the Latin fathers to form a code of melody. The ever-existing jealousy
of the church against innovation on any of its rules or principles, and
its desire to secure uniformity in the sacred song, as well as in prayer,
sacrifice, and sacrament, forbade any change in the Gregorian chants for
several ages ; but in the twelfth century, improvements were made, it
appears, by the Pope Gregory of that age.

Such are the material components of the musical school of the
Latins. Let us now turn our eyes again to Ireland. The chants of
Pope Gregory were established in the year 600 of the Christian era ;
but St. Patrick entered Ireland in the year 427, one hundred and
seventy-three years before Gregory's time. He could not, therefore, have
introduced the music of the Latins into Ireland, inasmuch as the Latins
had no musical code at the time of his appointment by Pope Celestine,
nor had they, as I have shown, for nearly two centuries after; and yet
all the churches and monasteries — and they were numerous — erected in
St. Patrick's time were filled with choristers. The monastery of Ben-
choir, whose very name (sweet 7nusic) indicated the character of its
performances, had as many as three thousand choristers, who kept up the
eternal song of praise to the Creator, as well by night as by day, min-
gling with their voices the sounds of the harp. The whole island, in
the course of St. Patrick's mission, Vv^as covered over with churches
and monasteries, some built of stone, some of wood, and some of
clay ; but they were all filled with singers and harpers. We find that
Dubh-thach, the great poet of the Irish, on the arrival of St. Patrick,
reconstructed, at the saint's request, many of his own poems, and those
of other Irish bards living and dead, accommodating them to celebrate,
in melody and harmony, the praises of the Christian martyrs, instead of
the heathen deities.

We find that a series of musical rules, for dividing and accenting
poetical compositions, existed in Ireland in very remote ages. We
find the musical diagram for regulating the harp music in use. We
find the universal cultivation of the harp prevaihng amongst the refined
classes of the Irish. We find that even the clergy sang to it in their

19S MUSICAL MODES AND RULES KNOWN TO THE ANCIENT IRISH.

churches, as Cambrensis, in his Topographia, written in the twelfth cen-
tury, testifies. " Hence it happens," says he, " that the bishops, abbots,
and holy men, in Ireland, carry with them their harps, and, modulating
them, are piously delighted. Whence it happens that St. Keivcn^s
harp is held in the greatest reverence by the people of that country." —
Chap. 12, dis. 3. — In the Life of St. Keiven, it is stated that the
king of Munster, so early as A. D. 489, had the best band of harpers
of any in his time, who accompanied their music with singing. We
find the bagpipes, the horn, and sundry other instruments, in use, with
rules for playing on them, long established in pagan ages. Such ma-
turity was not attainable by any sudden or fashionable application ; it
must have been the effect alone of long practice and cultivation.

The more we proceed on this interesting inquiry, the more numerous
do we find proofs of the musical science of Ireland. 1 have shown, from
the controversy on the comparative merits of the Latin and Western
nwisical schools, that two distinct schools existed in Europe. Such, in
fact, was the case : the Western school was seated in Ireland. That it
was esteemed the hcst, through the most part of Europe, we shall find
established by the following evidence : " When Neville Abbey was
established in France, in the close of the sixth century, under the
auspices of King Pepin, Gertrude, the daughter of that governor, sent
into Ireland for musicians and choristers to serve in it. A band of these
Irish harpers and choristers came from thence, who imparted their
music and rules to all the Franks, which were adopted by the court and
the nation ; " and we find that the great Charlemagne, in the eighth
century, appointed two Irishmen, Clement Albanius and Dungin,
preceptors for the two great universities of Pavia and Paris, which he
established.

If the Irish school were not esteemed the better of the two, its pro-
fessors would not have been selected for music and literature by those
monarchs, who assisted so materially in restoring civilization and letters
to Europe.

But far more remains to be told. The construction of rhyme, the
father and mother of music, is purely of Irish origin. The Greek or
Roman poets wrote no poetry that rhymed. Theirs was written in
hluiik verse, that is, verse without rhymes. The translators of the old
Greek and Roman poets — Dryden, Pope, Cowper, and others — have
clothed their translations in rhyming verse, to meet the demands of the
popular taste ; but their great originals wrote without rhyme. Singular
as it may appear, nevertheless it is true, that the Irish were the only

RHYME ORIGINATED WITH THE IRISH. MOORe's OPINION. 199

people of ancient days who rhymed in poetry. The ancient ran,
or rin, of the Irish was the father of modern rhyme. — The reader
will please turn to pages 163, 164, for specimens of ancient Irish rhyme ;
and, further, the first in all this world who wrote Latin rhymes were
Irishmen !

On this head let us hear Moore. " It would appear, indeed, that the
modern contrivance of rhyme, which is supposed by some to have had
a far other source, may be traced to its origin in the ancient rans or
rins [stanzas] of the Irish. The able historian of the Anglo-Saxons,
[Turner.] in referring to some Latin verses of Aldhelm, which he
api>ears to consider as the earliest specimen of rhyme now extant, pro-
fesses himself at a loss to discover whence that form of verse could
have been derived. ' Here, then,' says Turner, ' is an example of
rhyme in an author who lived before the year 700, and he was an
Anglo-Saxon. Whence did he derive it? Not from the Arabs; they
had not y^t reached Europe.' " But already before the time of Aid-
helm, the use of rhyme had been familiar among the Irish as well in
their vernicular verses as in those which they wrote in Latin. Not to
dwell on such instances in the latter language as the hymns of St.
Columba Kille, an example of Latin verses interspersed with rhyme is
to be fovind among the poems of St. Columbaniis, of Ireland, which
preceded those of Aldhelm by near half a century, viz. : —

" Mundus iste transit et quotidie decrescit ;
Nemo vivens manebit nullius vivus remansit"

Though the rhymes, or coincident sounds, occur thus in general on the
final syllable^ there are instances throughout the poem of complete
double rhymes.

So far back, indeed, as the fifth century, another Irish poet, Sedulius,
had> in some of the verses of his well-known hymn on the life of
Christ, left a specimen of much the same sort of rhyme, viz. ; —

«A solis ortus cardi?ie, ad usque terrse limitem
Christum canamus principe?» — natum virgine."

But it is still more correctly exemplified in a hymn in honor of St.
Bn^id, written, as some say, by Columbkill, but, according to others,
hy St. Ultan, of Ardbraccais.

"Christum in nostra insula, quae vocatur Hibemia,
Ostensus est homiuibus — maximis mirabiliiits,"

200 Camden's opinion. — irish music spread through Europe.

From the following account of the metrical structure of Irish verse,
it will be seen that it was peculiarly such as a people of strong musical
feeling, with whom the music was the chief object, would be likely to
invent and practise. " The rhyme," says Dr. Drummond, " consists
in an equal distance of intervals and similar terminations, each line
being divisible into two, that it may be more easily accommodated to
the voice and the music of the bards. It is not formed by the nice
collocation of long and short syllables, but by a certain harmonic rhythm
adjusted to the voice of song by the position of words ivhich touch the
heart and assist the memory.^'

" According to this ' art of the Irish,' as it was styled," continues
Moore, " most of the distichs, preserved by Tigernach from the old
poets, were constructed ; and it is plain that Aldhelm, who was in-
structed by Maidulph, a native of Ireland, derived his knowledge of
this, OS ivell as of all other literary accomplishments of that day^
from the lips of his learned Irish master. How nearly bordering on
jealousy was his own admiration of the schools of the Irish, has been
seen in the sarcastic letter addressed by him to Eagfrid, who had just
returned from a coui-se of six years' study in Ireland, overflowing, as it
would appear, with gratitude and praise."

Camden admits the English learned Latin from the Irish, and
adopted the Irish letters ; and several English authors admit that
rhyming is exclusively an Irish practice.

St. ColumbanuSj the celebrated Irish scholar and Christian mis-
sionary, who proceeded from Ireland, in the sixth century, throughout
Europe, teaching literature and Christianity, used, it is said, to enjoy the
music of the harp ; and, on one occasion, the holy man is described
sitting, along with his brethren, upon the banks of Lake Kee, in Ireland,
listening to the songs of the celebrated poet and musician Cronan. He
was a Leinster man, educated in the Irish college of Benchoir, already
alluded to ; and he took with him twelve Irish monks, who travelled
with him through several places on the European continent, preaching
the doctrines of the cross. Princes and potentates welcomed hirrs
wheresoever he appeared, gave him lands, and encouraged him to
establish his disciples as teachers amongst their people. Wherever he es-
tablished monasteries, he also established, says the Abbe M'Geoghegan,
the perpetual psalmody by different choirs, who relieved each other by
day and night, as practised at the time at Benchoir and other Irish
monasteries. The same authoi'j writing in France, adds, that he was

SOME GREGORIAN CHANTS COMPOSED BY IRISHMEN. 201

the first who estabhshed the monastic order among the French. We
may fairly presume that he introduced, through his order, into France,
thus early, (sixth century,) the sacred music of Ireland.

Germany received its Christianity and psalmody from Ireland in thai
century and the one succeeding, as shall be shown more fully in those
pages of this Work which treat of Christian Ireland. While I am
writing, an address appears in the Irish papers, directed to Daniel
O'Connell by the clergy of Germany, fully confirming all I have
advanced. I make a very brief extract.

" We never can forget to hole upon your beloved country as our
mother in religion; that, already at the remotest periods of the Christian
era, commiserated our people, and readily sent forth her spiritual sons
to rescue our pagan ancestors from idolatry, at the sacrifice of her
own property and blood, and to entail upon them the blessings of the
Christian faith." — Dublin Nation, 13th April, 1844.

Indeed, the chants of the Latin church received many contributionb
from Ireland even during the lifetime of Pope St. Gregory. St.
Columbkill sent three pieces to Rome, two of which were thought very
fine by his holiness, and there incorporated in his chants. The first of
these begins with the lines

"In te, Cliiiste, credentium;"
the second with

"Noli, pater, indulgere."

The great Sedulius, the Irish evangelical poet, wrote several church
hymns, some of which were adopted by the same pontiff, and inserted
in the breviary of hymns — " A soils ortus cardine," for the nativity ;
and " Hostis Herodes impie," for the epiphany ; with the " Salve,
sancta, parens enixa puerpera regem" which is used as an introit at the
masses of the Blessed Virgin. " The Catholic Church (says Moore)
has selected some of her most beautiful hymns from this poem. Sedu-
lius wrote in 448 — more than a century before the time of Pope
Gregory."

I might, indeed, continue to produce many other similar instances, if I
deemed them necessary. It is evident from Irish history that the lay
and church music of Ireland grew, under their own cultivation, from
the ancient sounds of simple melody, to a complete maturity. The
genuine old Irish lay melodies are capable of being converted into
quick or dancing measure, and vice versa — a test of their correct mode.
This the dancing airs of modern times do not admit with equal propriety
and effect. The Irish was totally distinct from the Latin mode, which
was not introduced into Ireland till about the twelfth century. At
26

202 OPINION OF CAftlBRENSIS.

that period, by the strenuous exertions of St. Malachy, Archbishop of
Armagh, the music practised at the chief seat of the Christian church
was introduced partially into the church service of L-eland. But this
did not alter the general character of the lay music of the nation;
for we see, when Geraldus Cambrensis visited Ireland, in 1186, the
music of Ireland was in great perfection, and in high estimation.

Cambrensis was an Englishman, who had travelled as the companion
of Henry the Second all over Europe ; had heard the best music of
every country, and of the most refined society. In his Book of Travels
is the following remarkable passage on the Irish music of that age : —

" The attention of this people to musical instruments I find worthy
of commendation ; in which their skill is, beyond all comparison,
superior to that of any nation I have seen; for in these the modulation
is not slow and solemn, as in the instruments of Britain, to which we
are accustomed ; but the sounds are rapid and precipitate, yet at the
same time sweet and pleasing. It is wonderful how, in such precipitate
rapidity of the fingers, the musical proportions are preserved, and, by
their art, faultless throughout, in the midst of their complicated modu-
lations and most intricate arrangement of notes, by a rapidity so sweet,
a regularity so irregular, a concord so discordant, the melody is rendered
hai-monious and perfect. Whether the chords of the diatesseron or
diapente are struck together, yet they always begin in a soft mood, and
end in the same: that all may he perfected in the sweetness of delicious
sounds, they enter on, and again leave their modidations, icith so much
suhtilty, and the tinglings of the small strings sport with so much
freedom under the deep notes of the bass, delight with so much
delicacy, and soothe so softly, that the excellence of their art seems to
lie in concealing it."

But such was the celebrity of Irish music a century preceding the
arrival of Cambrensis, that the Welsh bards, so celebrated for their
knowledge in this art, condescended to seek for and receive instruction
from those of Ireland. " GrufFydh ap Conan," says Powell, " brought
over with him from Ireland divers cunning musicians into Wales, who
devised mostly all the instrumental music that is now there used ; as
appeareth as well by the books written of the same, as also by the
names of the tunes and meastires used among them to this date."
This is found in Camden's History of Britain and Ireland, 1584, (page
191.)

The learned Selden says of Welsh music, when speaking of the
subject, " Their music, for the most part, came out of Ireland with

CAKODOC'S OPINION. LEDWICh's OPINION. 203

GrufFydh ap Conan, prince of North Wales, about King Stephen's
time." — Notes on Drayton.

Carodoc, of Lhancarvan, a Welshman, in the twelfth century, assures
us that the Irish devised all the instruments, tunes, and measures,
in use among the Welsh. " Caradoc, the Welsh king and historian,"
says Ledwich, " without any of that illiberal partiality so common
with national writers, assures us the Irish devised all the instru-
ments, tunes, and measures, in use among the Welsh. Cambrensis
is even more copious in its praise, when he declares that the Irish, aiove
any other nation, is incomparably skilled in symphonal music. This
incomparable skill could never be predicated of unlearned, extempora-
neous bardic airs : it implies a knowledge of the diagram, and an exact
division of the harmonic intervals ; a just expression of the tones, and,
in the quickest movements, a unity of melody. Cambrensis observes
these particulars of our music ; he accurately distinguishes the Irish and
English styles : the latter was the diatonic genus, slow, and made up of
concords, heavy, the intervals spacious, as in ecclesiastical chant:
the former was the enhai'monic genus, full of minute divisions, with
every diesis marked, the succession of our melodies lively and rapid, our
modulations full and sweet. He alone, [Cambrensis,] who had the
sharpest faculties, and was the most profoundly versed in the musical
art, felt ineffable pleasure in hearing Irish musicians. It is then evident
that all this transcendent excellence in music could be derived but from
two sources — a perfect knoivledge of it as a science, and its universal
cultivation^

Logan, the Scottish antiquarian, says, " Although the Welsh were
not previously ignorant of music, it is related that Gryfith ap Cynan,
being educated in Ireland, brought its music, musicians, and instruments,
to his own country about 1100, and, having summoned a congress of
the harpers of both countries to revise their music, the twentyfour
musical canons were established in Wales."

I will here repeat, from my chapter on the bards, the nature of those
rules for poetry and music which were then brought from Ireland into
Wales. The authors of that able work on the poetry and music
of Wales, entitled the Myvyrian Archaeology, published under the
superintendence of the Society of Welsh Antiquarians, enter on a
profound inquiry into the subject. Referring to the rules of poetry and
music introduced from Ireland into Wales in the eleventh and twelfth
centuries, they say, " The rules consisted of twenty-four elementary
principles of versification. These, with their subdivisions, include

204 IRISH MUSICAL, LAWS INTRODUCED INTO WALES.

every species of verse that has ever yet, in any age, or amongst any
people, been produced, besides a prodigious number of original con-
struction, which can be found with no other people." Dr. Molloy,
already quoted by ine, says, the construction and variety of Irish metre
are the most difficult he has ever seen or heard of. In its composition
these things are required — number, quartans, number of syllables,
concords, correspondence, termination, union, and caput, the subdivisions
of all which are again minute and perplexing.

Ere Dr. Johnson designated Ireland the school of the West, he had
fully satisfied himself that she deserved the appellation ; and so in truth
she did. Her schools of literature, science, and music, were celebrated
throughout Europe, and imparted to its youth the light of wisdom.
The ancient Irish, according to Vallancey, Walker, and other anti-
quarians, had their musical schools, in which the bards and oirfidigh
were instructed in musical science. Into these schools, the stray
musical talent of the country was collected, maintained, and educated,
at the expense of the foundation — a practice we find prevalent at present
in the Jesuit schools of Germany, and also in the pontifical schools at
Rome. In those Irish musical schools, a circle of the learners was
formed, called draieacht, to distinguish it from ogham, the prosodiacal
circle.

The Irish bishops carried the harp with them in the time of Cam-
brensis, and, indeed, the clergy were often excellent bards. Donchadh
O'Daly, abbot of Boyle, in 1250, excelled all the bards of his time.
The members of the Scots (Irish) church, says Logan, brought
sacred music to great perfection, and rendered it celebrated throughout
Europe in very early ages ; and left many treatises on it.

Wharton, in his History of English Poetry, says, " Even so late as
the eleventh century, the practice continued among the Welsh bards of
receiving instructions in the bardic profession from Ireland^

Up to the twelfth century, poetry and music were generally cultivated
by the same person ; so that all things that were said of one branch
applied to the other. After that period, poetry and music separated, and
each was pursued by different votaries. The musician gradually be-
came a distinct artiste, and so of the poet.

I find it asserted in some of the musical works, that " counterpoint, or
melody, as treble and bass, were invented by Guido, an Italian, about
the year 1022, and the time table by Frameo, in 1080." I cannot see
how that can be called an invention In Italy, in the eleventh century,
which was known in Ireland at least five hundred years previously But

THE VIOLIN OF IRISH ORIGIN. IRISH GUITAR. 205

this fallacy proves lo us thai the Latins knew little of the varied musical
principles of the Western (Irish) school for a long period after their
religious intercourse commenced. Improvements, it is said, travel much
slower than snails. We can readily credit the fame which Guido and
Frameo acquired, by the introduction to their countrymen of the Irish
rules for treble mid bass, and dividing time, which they offered to the
world as inventions. The Italians, according to their oivn great musi-
cal author, Galleli, " derived their harp from Ireland before the time
of Dante,'' (A. D. 1300.) The instrument, according to his account,
had, at that time, four octaves and a tone in compass, viz., thirty-three
strings. As Italy got her harp from Ireland, it is not presuming too
much to say she got the instructions for playing on it from the
same quarter ; for they must be very subtle casuists indeed, who can
draw a different conclusion from those plain premises.

The violin, though brought to great perfection in Italy, in 1550, by
Amati and Straduarius of Cremona, had its origin in the Irish creamh-
tine cruit, (JValker and Vallancet/,) an instrument of six strings, four
only of which could be termed symphonic, and these were stretched
over a flat bridge on a finger-board. The two lower strings projected
beyond the finger-board, and were not touched by the plectrum, or
bow, but occasionally with the thumb, as a bass accompaniment to the
notes sounded on the other strings. This instrument, the parent
of the violin, was used as a tenor accompaniment to the harp at
feasts and convivial meetings. Martyn, in his Journey through the
Western Highlands, notices the prevalence of this instrument, and
remarks, " As it is not denied that the crcamhtine emit was the parent
of the violin, it only remains to be admitted that the Scots borroiced
this instrument from the Irish, in order to account for the violin being
in such general use in the Western Isles." The Welsh had a similar
instrument long in use, the invention of which some of their writers
having claimed for them, the learned Colonel Vallancey, the English
antiquarian, grapples with the assumption, and vindicates the claim of
Ireland to its invention. " I believe," he says, " the only honor they
can have is the invention of playing on this instrument with the bow ;
yet this seems to have been known to the Irish also, for, in our common
lexicons, we find ' Cpuit, a harp, a fiddle, a crowder.' "

It is very evident that this instrument may have been played by
the ancient Irish with the fingers, hke our modern guitars ; or, rather, may
we not say it was the old Irish guitar? It was capable of giving four
octaves, or thirty-two natural notes, which was formerly the precise

206 SCOTCH MUSIC ESSENTIALLY IRISH.

power of the harp. Upon this basis the viohn of Cremona was con-
structed. Experiments have improved it so much that a bar may be
bowed above fifty different ways. Paginini was the most wonderful
viohnist that ever appeared. He transcended, with the G string by
itself, all other performers with the four strings.

The Scottish music is essentially Irish ; their ancient language was
Irish ; their kings, their laws, books, and poetry, were all Irish in origin ;
all their musical instruments, with the exception of the bagpipes, were
Irish. The Scotch bagpipe, which they have brought to very great
perfection, and play on delightfully, is of Roman origin.

The learned Mr. Beauford, at the request of Dr. Walker, made an
exact comparison between the Irish and some of the Highland airs, pub-
lished, in the last century, by the Rev. Mr. M'Donald, and it was dis-
covered that they were constructed on the same principles. The cause
of this affinity in music, between these two people, is the same as that
which made their language common or identical, namely, a common
origin, and a long and closely continued alliance and relationship. Dr.
Campbell, in his Philosophical Sui-vey, confidently asserts that the honor
of inventing the Scots music must be given to Ireland. The Scottish
historian John de Fordun, who was sent over to Ireland, in the four-
teenth century, to collect materials for a history of Scotland, (the first
that ever was published separately on Scotland, from the time of its
original colonization from Ireland,) expressly says that '■^Ireland was
the fountain of music in his time, whence it then began to fiow into
Scotland and Wales."

John Major, in his fulsome panegyric on James the First of Scotland,
(as quoted by Walker,) calls that prince " another Orpheus, who
touched the harp more exquisitely than either the Highlanders, or even
the Irish, who ivere the most eminent harpers then known." This was
written in 1600. Walker continues to remark, " The cause of this
affinity between the airs of the two nations we may find in the Scottish
historians. These writers inform us that, about the period of which we
are now treating, many Irish harpers travelled into the Highlands of
Scotland. Here, while they diffused several of their native melodies,
they undoubtedly occasioned a revolution in the musical taste of the
country for the excellence of their performance : they, standing at this
time unrivalled in their profession, must have excited admiration ; and
whatever we admire we are ambitious to imitate."

In a large work, entitled Caledonia, page 476, quoted by Logan,
a Scotchman, the following passage appears: "The Welsh, the

OPINIONS OF ENGLISH WRITERS ON IRISH MUSIC. 207

Scots, and the Irish, have all melodies of a simple sort, which, as they
are connected together by cognate marks, evince at once their relation-
ship and antiquity. The Manx have but a few national airs that much
resemble the Irish. Much of the music of Ireland seems as if it were
composed for love only."

The music of the Isle of Man is altogether Irish.

Almost all the English poets, who wrote on Ireland from the twelfth
to the sixteenth century, noticed the preeminence of her music above
all the nations of Europe. Fuller, in his History of the Holy War, says,
" Yea, we may well think that all the concert of Christendom in this
warre could have made no musick if the Irish harp had been wanting."

Drayton has the following : —

"The Irish I admire,
And still cleave to that lyre,

As our music's mother;
And think, till I expire,

Apollo's such another."

Lord Bacon says, " The harpe hath the concave not along the strings,
but across the strings ; and no harpe hath the sound so melting and so
prolonged as the Irish harpe." Moore quotes the following from
Evylin's Journal : " Come to see my old acquaintance, and the most
incomparable player on the Irish harp, Mr. Clarke, after his travels.
Such music before or since did I never hear, that instrument beins:
neglected for its extraordinary difficult}^; but, in my judgment, far
superior to the lute, or whatever speaks with strings." Even Spenser,
the poet of Queen Bess, praises the harp of Ireland, and says he had
much of their poetical compositions translated to him. Walker re-
marks that it is very probable Spenser borrowed several of his beautiful
fictions from some of these Irish poems ; for in them, as in those of
Ariosto and Chaucer, giants and fairies may be found in abundance.
Many more English, and also French, authorities could be quoted, if I
deemed them necessary.

In the fifteenth century, the Irish harp, according to Dean Lynch,
received considerable improvements from the ingenuity of Robert Nu-
gent, a Jesuit, who resided in Ireland. He enclosed the open space
between the trunk and upper part (or arm) of the instrument with little
pieces of wood, and closed it up after the manner of a box, and the
bored part, or sound-hole, on the right side, which was formerly open, he
covered with a lattice work of wood, as in the clavichord, and then

208 IMPROVEMENT IN THE HARP. THE HORN.

placed a double row of chords on each side. This was certainly a
valuable improvement ; for, in consequence of the double row of strings,
which was stretched along each side ol the trunk, there were two
strings to each tone, so that two parts might be played on the instru-
ment at the same time — the treble with the right hand and the bass with
the left. The Welsh have used a double-stringed harp, in latter years,
which is much esteemed amongst musicians ; but the Irish harpers seem
to prefer the old single-stringed instrument. The old harps were strung
with wire, and the performers struck them with their nails, which were
suffered to grow very long for that purpose. Gut is now used. The
Welsh formerly used hair.

There were many other instruments in use amongst the ancient Irish,
which want of space will not permit me to dwell on. The ancient
horn was a simple musical instrument, common to almost all the
nations. It was formed from the horn of the cow, and was occasionally
lengtliened by a small brass or tin tube inserted in the smaller end,
which was put into the mouth. Holes were bored in this instrument at
musical distances. Almost all chiefs, knights, bards, and travellers,
wore those horns suspended over the neck, by the side ; and when
they arrived at the ancient betagh, (resting-place of free entertain-
ment,) they sounded either the horn worn by themselves, or that found
suspended at the gate. It is said that St. Patrick, when he travelled,
took with him a horn. The horn was used as a drinking cup by the
Irish chieftains ; and it was also used as a signet, or symbol of agree-
ment, in the perfection of civil contracts. In England, as in Ireland,
it was used as a pledge, in the transfer of inheritances, and its presence
upon such occasions may have given birth to that old Irish and English
custom of having a drink at the conclusion of a bargain or contract.
The horn, or coniu, does not seem to be peculiar to any nation; it
was used as well by the Jews, Egyptians, Phoenicians, Greeks,
Romans, Gauls, Germans or Tentones, Caledonians, as by the Irish.

When the bugle horn ceased to be used in the armies of the Irish,
and the other European powers, it was either slung, as an ornament, at
the side of domestics, (^WaJker,) or employed at hunting matches to call
together a scattered pack of hounds. There were many variations of
this instrument, such as the clarion, trumpet, &;c. The flute, pipe,
flagelet, and boy's whistle, v/ere originally in the same form. The Irish
had the corobasnas, a chorus instrument of a complex form, which was
used, as its Irish name imports, for marking time in music. It consisted
of two circular plates of brass, connected by a wire of the same metal,

THE ORGAN. PIANO-FORTE. BELLS. TROMBONE. 209

twisted in a worm-like manner, which jingled round the shanks, when
the plates were struck upon by the fingers.

The ORGAN was invented by a barber of Alexandria, about one hun-
dred and thirteen years before the birth of Christ. The history of its
improvements from the rude original to its present perfected state, is inter-
esting, but too long for this work. When it was first introduced into Ire-
land, history is silent. Organs were in general use, in the churches of Italy
and France, in the seventh century ; about which time, the religious of
Ireland and of those countries had frequent intercourse. There is an
organ at present at Amsterdam, which has fifty-two whole stops, besides
half stops, and two rows of keys for the feet, and three for the hands,
and a set of pipes that imitate a chorus of human voices. The organ at
Haerlem (^Gardiner) is one hundred and eight feet high and fifty feet
broad, with five thousand pipes, resembling columns of silver, from the
ground to the roof. It produces a tone of thunder. This is an instru-
ment capable of yet greater improvements.

The PIANO-FORTE, as I have already said, is simply the Irish harp,
placed horizontally in a box, and struck by the machinery of levers and
leathern hammers, touched by the fingers. This instrument, now such
a universal favorite, was constructed in London, in 1766, by Zumpi, a
German. The compass of the piano extends, like the modern harp,
through six octaves. To present a scale showing the surpassing com-
pass of the harp, I give, from the best musical authorities, the following
calculation : the compass of the grand action harp extends through six
and a half octaves ; the compass of the grand action piano, through
six and a half, and latterly some have been run up to seven ; the
guitar, through two and a quarter ; the clarionet, three and a half;
the horn, three ; the bassoon, three ; the flute, three ; the violin, two
and a half, but every note can be bowed fifty different ways ; the
moloncello, two and a quarter ; human voices, two. In an organ of
eight octaves, the pipes of the lowest tones are thirty-two feet long, and
of the highest, one inch and a half.

Bells began to be used in churches on the introduction of Chris-
tianity into Britain and Ireland ; but large bells, suspended in towers,
were not general till the eighth and ninth centuries. At that time, on
the expulsion of the Danes from Ireland, the clergy converted the
old round towers of Ireland into belfries.

The trombone is the sackbut of the ancients ; and it was revived about
1790, after a model found in Pompeii. It produces the semitones by
sliding out and in, hke a telescope tube.
27

210 MUSIC OF ENGLAND.

The English had no musical schools, and cultivated the science very
sparingly, till about the close of the sixteenth century. A country de-
scribed so accuratiely by one of their own accomplished writers, in the
few compact words that follow, can have little pretensions to music ; for
it is the offspring of peace, art, science, literature, and political inde-
pendence. " The Roman occupation of Britain is an historical blank.
They held the country four hundred years — a period sufficient to change
its character; but we have few evidences of their improvements, one? ybr
twelve centuries after their departure civilization was in the lowest
state." — Sir Richard Phillips.

While music and poetry were flourishing in Ireland, coarse ballads,
set to rude music, were the delight of the nobility and gentry of Eng-
land. I hope no person from that country will deem me guilty of
disparaging unjustly the character of the English nation. Ireland has,
until very lately, been contemptuously treated by the majority of Eng-
lishmen. Her fair character has been stained by calumnious writers.
Under the shade of clouds of slander, her liberties have been stolen
away, and her children have been scattered, houseless and friendless, on
a cold world. If, in the endeavor to remove some portion of that vast
cloud, by the publication of this book, I should wound the sensibilities
of any English man or woman, I have only to say that the deed is
farthest from my wish. Although the great body of the English people
710W feel disposed to be more just to Ireland, still the genius of history
requires that I should, in these pages, tell the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth ; and that I shall do, under the favor and pro-
tection of the Almighty.

John Baldwin, an English writer, published a work, called the
"Canticles or Balades of Solomon, A.D. 1549," in which he thus con-
cludes his address to the reader: "Would God that such songs might
once drive out of office the bawdy balades that commonly are indited
and sung of idle courtyers in princes' and noblemen's houses." This
depravity of taste, remarks Walker, which Mr. Baldwin reprobates,
must have been gradually stealing on his countrymen.

Henry Lawes, according to Milton, who was himself a lover of music,
was the first improver of the secular music of the English. Milton's
sonnet to him begins thus : —

"Harrj'', whose tuneful and well-measured song
First taught our English music how to span
Words with just note and accent, — not to scan
With Midas ears, committing short and long," &c.

GEORGE THE FOURTH INTRODUCES TWO HUNDRED STRAINS. 211

So much for the secular music of the EngHsh. Now we turn
for a moment to iheir church music, which we shall find in a very
simple, unimproved state. In " The Book of Common Prayer noted,
published by John Marbeake, in 1550, which contains so much of the
common prayer as is to be sung in churches," there were but three or
four sorts of notes used, viz.

?z=L==^Ei^;^[i:^

The whole is filled with chanting notes on four red lines only ; but
their knowledge of harmony, it appears, increased in the year 1563, for
another work was then printed, entitled "The Whole Psalms, in Foure
Partes, which may be sung to all Musical Instruments." Yet their taste
seems not to have kept pace with their practical improvement ; for
Prinn, in a work published in 1663, calls their church music the bleat-
ing of brute beasts.

Luther, who was a tolerable musician, introduced some new rules
into English psalmody. He caught the popular airs floating in the
dance and wake, and gathered them into his churches. The Old
Hundredth, says Phillips, was a love ditty ; Rebuke me not, was an
Irish jig ; and Stand up, O Lord, was a Poitou-dance.

Burney gives the first tune printed in English notes, and it appears to
be the old Irish air, Ta an Sammodth teacht, " The Summer is coming,"
to which Moore wrote the beautiful words, " Rich and rare were the
gems she wore," to be found in the musical pages of this work.

Madrigals for four or five voices were introduced in the seventeenth
century, when Marinzio, Este, Morley, and VVilbye composed their
glees and catches. James the First, himself a good musician, intro-
duced into Scotland several eminent foreign performers, who, it is said,
improved the Scotch style, and, on their return to Italy, brought
with them the old Irish and Scotch music, which they learned during
their sojourn.

George the Fourth^ a few years ago, with the aid of oup countryman
Michael Kelly and Gardiner, had two hundred strains of Haydn, Mo-
zart, and Beethoven, adapted to as many of the best versions of the
Psalms. The English, within the present century, have become great
patrons of foreign music, whilst they have nearly altogether neglected
their own, meagre though it be. In truth, their principal stock was given
to them by Irish composers. Michael Kelly, alone, wrote the music of

212 HANDEL REJECTED IN LONDON, APPLAUDED IN DUBLIN.

sixty English operas and musical pieces, during the first quarter of the
present century.* He composed all the music for Dibdin's songs, sung
by him with powerful effect during the wars against Napoleon. The
taste of the English public for genuine music was not so accurate as that
of their contemned neighbors, the Irish, as may be seen from the follow-
ing anecdote of Handel, which appears in Walker, but better told by
Busby, in his musical work. " When Handel first produced his Messiah
before a London audience, in 1750, it was condemned. He went to
Dublin, reproduced the splendid performance there, and won from that
more discriminating audience thunders of applause. In fact, it created
quite a sensation in Ireland. On Handel's return to London, he had the
satisfaction of enjoying the most enthusiastic applause, and the highest
honors, from the same audiences which previously condemned his
immortal composition ; and after his death, his natal day was commemo-
rated in London by the most extravagant musical festivals." At the
Handel commemoration of 1784, which took place in Westminster
Abbey, four hundred and eighty-three performers took part ; at that of
1834, there were six hundred and twenty.

The music of Ireland changed gradually in its character after the
introduction of the religious wars of the reformation. Although the first
settlers from England, who obtained a footing in Leinster, through the
national treachery of Dermod M'Murrough, in 1169, had given their
Irish neighbors considerable annoyance, — and although King Edward
the First, of England, inhumanly butchered, at a feast, three hundred of
the Welsh harpers, and soon after caused to be passed, at the little par-
liament of his Pale, a statute making it penal to entertain any of the Irish
minstrels, rhymers, or news-tellers, — still the heart of L'eland was not
broken, and her music was buoyant as her spirit was light, hearty,
animating.

But after the desolation which followed the religious wars of Henry
the Eighth, Elizabeth, James the First, Cromwell, and William the
Third, the character of the national music changed. But rather than
attempt a description of this change, I give that of the elegant and accu-
rate Walker, from whose rare work I have already drawn so largely.
" Such was the nice sensibility of the bards, such was dieir tender affec-
tion for their country, that the subjection to which the kingdom was
reduced, affected them with the heaviest sadness. Sinking beneath this
weight of sympathetic sorrow, they became a prey to melancholy.
Hence the plainliveness of their music ; for it being, at this time, (from
1550 to 17BQj) their only solace, must have served to increase their
* See Michael Kelly, at page 1190.

IRISH MUSIC ADAPTED TO THE PASSIONS OF LOVE AND SORROW. 213

melancholy ; for music, says Bacon, feecleth that disposition of the
spirits which it findeth : the ideas that arise in the mind are always con-
genial to, and receive a tincture from, the influencing passion. The
bards, often driven, together with their patrons, by the sword of oppres-
sion, from the busy haunts of men, were obliged to lie concealed, in
marshes, in gloomy forests, among rugged mountains, and in glens and
valleys, resounding with the noise of falling waters, or filled with por-
tentous echoes. Such scenes as these, by throwing a gloom over the
fancy, must have considerably increased their settled melancholy ; so
that, when they attempted to sing, it is not to be wondered that their
voices, thus weakened by struggling against a heavy mental depression,
should rise rather by minor thirds, which consist but of four semitones,
than by major thirds, which consist of five. Now, almost all the airs of
this period are found to be set in the minor third, and to be of the sage
and solemn nature of the music which Milton requires in his Penseroso.

' bid the soul of Orpheus sing

Such notes as warbled to the string,
Drew iron tears down Pluto's cheek,
And made hell grant what love did seek.'"

The great Orientalist, Sir William Jones, remarks on the advantage
we have over the Greeks, in our minor scale, which enables us to adapt
our music so admirably to subjects of grief and melancholy — love, for
instance. Mr. Marsden, in his History of Sumatra, says, " The Sumatra
tunes very much resemble, to my ear, those of the native Irish, and have
usually, like them, a flat third." " Being very desirous," says Walker,
" to discover the cause of this resemblance, I consulted Mr. Marsden on
the subject, the result of which was the following curious paper: —

" ' It is observed that the popular music of most nations, within cer-
tain limits of civilization, is confined to the flat or minor key. The
sharp or major key is doubtless the more obvious, and must present itself
to the rude essayers of the art. Accordingly it will be found, that peo-
ple in a very savage state, as the negroes of Africa, seldom, if ever,
demonstrate any acquaintance with the minor key. Their short songs,
by which they regulate the motion and soothe the irksomeness of their
labor, are all in the major Jcey, which accords better with the natural
vivacity of their disposition. In countries where, from incidental cir-
cumstances, the inhabitants are encouraged to devote their leisure to the
improvement of their musical skill, they catch, at length, the succession
of tones with a flat interval ; and finding this more expressive of passion,

214 IRISH MUSICIANS COPIED THE SOUNDS OF BIRDS, ETC.

and more calculated to awake the feelings, which is the great end and
object of music, amongst people whose genuine sensations are not blunt-
ed by the polish of refinement, they attach themselves to it, and the
other key, being comparatively deficient in pathos, falls into disuse.
Where the art is carried to its last stage of perfection, as among the
European nations, and where the object of the musician is to entertain
by variety, and surprise by brilliancy of execution, — to captivate the
ear rather than the hearts of his auditors, — there both the keys are
indifferently employed, or so managed as to produce that species of
pleasure which arises from sudden transitions and contrasts.

" ' Since writing the above, I met an observation by a French author,
that singing birds always tune their song in the major key, and that,
although it has frequently been attempted to teach those birds which
possess imitative faculties to pipe airs with a flat third, it has never to
any degree succeeded.' "

The Irish harpers copied the sounds of birds and animals upon their
harp-strings. So did the Irish pipers upon the bagpipes. Hunting
tunes have been made the medium of numberless variations, in which the
cries of the hounds, the " Tally ho ! " of the huntsman, and the moans
of the dying stag or fox, have been very well imitated. Gardiner,
in his Music of Nature, has put into notes the songs of twenty-four birds,
and twenty animals, and of eight or ten insects ; also twenty expres-
sions of human passion or feeling. The gnat gives the note A, on the
second space. The death-watch calls in B flat, and answers in C.
The three notes of the cricket are in B. The buzz of a beehive is in F.
The wings of the house-fly are in F, in the first space. The humble-
hce is an octave, or eight notes, lower, &£c.

I have inserted these digressional i-emarks and quotations here, for
the purpose of presenting the reader with some of that variety of charac-
ter which belongs to Irish music. And now to return to the ages of its
decline.

A people hunted like wolves, as the Irish have been, by their barbaric
neighbors, for the last three hundred years, could not have practised the
nice and minute rules necessary to keep up a good musical school ;
•they were not able to improve and refine according to the rapid de-
velopment of musical science in other happier nations ; and hence
there is found a marked decline in its cultivation.

Walker mentions one Maguire, a vintner, who resided near Charing
Cross, London, about the year 1730, and played exceedingly well
on the Irish harp. His house was frequented by some of the very

LAMENT OF THE MINSTREL o'gNIVE. 215

first men in London, even members of the cabinet, wiio came to hear
his melody. Upon one occasion, he was asked why the Irish airs were
so plaintive and solemn. He replied that the native composers were " too
deeply distressed at the situation of their country and her gallant sons to
compose otherwise ; but remove the restraints which they labor under,
and you will not have reason to complain of the plaintiveness of their
notes." Offence was taken at these warm expressions ; his house be-
came gradually neglected, and he died soon after broken-hearted.

Many fragments of beautiful lamentations, as well as incitements to
freedom, composed by the minstrels who lived in the ages of persecu-
tion, are plentifully scattered through the history of this period. I can
make room for only one specimen. It is the composition of O'Gnive
family ollanih to the O'Neills of Clanaboy.

« O

The condition of our dear countrymen!
How languid tiieir joys!
How pressing their sorrows !
The wrecks of a party ruined!
Their wounds still rankling!
The wretched crew of a vessel
Tossed long about, finally cast away !

Are we not
The prisoners of the Saxon nation ?
The captives of remorseless tyranny ?
Is not our sentence pronounced?
Is not our destruction inevitable ?
Frightful, grinding thought!
Power exchanged for servitude,
Beauty for deformity, the
Exultations of liberty
For the pangs of slavery,
A great and brave people
For a servile, desponding race !

How came this transformation?
Shrouded in a mist, which
Bursts down on you like a deluge,
Which covers you with successive
Inundations of evil.
Ye are not the same people.
Need I appeal to your senses ?
But what sensations have you left?

* 9P ^ ^ ^ iJf; #

The suffering children of Ireland no longer

Recognize their common mother.

She equally disowns us for her children.

216 SUPPRESSION AND DECLINE OF IRISH MUSIC.

We both have lost our forms.
What do we now behold
But insulting Saxon natives,
And native Irish aliens?

Hapless land!
Thou art a bark through which
The sea hath burst its way.
We hardly discover any part
Of you in the hands of the plunderer.
Yes ! the plunderer hath
Refitted you for his own habitation,
And we are new-moulded for his purpose.

Ye Israelites of Egypt —
Ye wretched inhabitants of this foreign land.
Is there no relief for you ?
Is tliere no Hector left
For the defence, or rather for
The recovery, of Troy ?

It is thine, O my God,
To send us a second Moses.
Thy dispensations are just;
And unless tlie children of Scythian Scot
Return to thee, old Ireland is not doomed
To arise from the thraldom of the Saxon."

This is not the place to record the milHons of human beings, of everj
age and of both sexes, that were butchered — the confiscations and the
desolation which accompanied the wars of Elizabeth, James the First,
Cromwell, and William the Third. The reader will find them briefly
discribed in the proper place in this volume. Every attribute of the Irish
nation which we should admire was struck down, and, as eloquently
expressed by the heart-broken bard, " the slaves of Ireland no
longer recognize their common mother." In this terrible desolation the
music of Ireland sank. Nine tenths of the most beautiful compositions
perished. A few, compared with what existed, have come down to us ;
and, judging by their surpassing melody, we may form a conception of
what the music of Ireland really was in the ages of her independence.
During the pressure of the penal laws, from the age of Elizabeth, in the
sixteenth, to the times of Grattan and Flood, in the eighteenth century^
the intellect of Ireland shrank back into the earth as fast as it saw the
glare of tyranny. Education had been suppressed, wealth and enter-
prise forbidden, freedom extinguished, and the songs of the bard silenced
by the hangman or the trooper. Now and then, however, in the midst
of the universal gloom, some dazzling genius would flash his meteor rays

o'kaNE. CAROLAN. 217

on the thick surrounding darkness, — but only to make the darkness
more visible ; yet those involuntary emanations of native talent did
occasionally appear, affording evidence of the vitality of Erin's body,
and the immortality of her soul, — proving, in the language of her darling
poet, Moore,

" that still she lives."

Amongst these, O'Kane, Carolan, Jackson, and some others, stand
proudly prominent — the first as a harper, the second and third as com-
posers. O'Kane not only delighted his own countrymen in Ireland, but
passed over to Scotland, about 1740, where he won such renown, that
the lairds of that ancient country made him their honored guest. He
was presented by the Laird M'Donald with a harp key, that had been
time immemorial in the family, which bore marks of great antiquity,
being ornamented with gold and silver, and precious stones of great
value. Such a tribute offered by the primary chieftain of Scotland to
Irish musical genius is not to be undervalued.

Of Carolan a volume might be agreeably filled. Walker gives many
pages of his valuable book to his life, and Bunting and Hardiman also
give many particulars. " The cabin," says the former, " in which our
bard was born, 1670, in the village of Nobber, county Westmeath, is still
pointed out to the inquisitive traveller. As it is in a ruinous state, it must
soon become a prey to all-devouring time ; but the spot on which it stood
will, I predict, be visited, at a future day, with as much true devotion by
the lovers of natural music, as Stratford-upon-Avon and Binfield are by
the admirers of Shakspeare and Pope." He must have been deprived of
sight at a very early period of life by the small-pox, for he remembered
no impression of colors, and was shut up in darkness before he had
taken even a cursory view of creation. From this he felt no incon-
venience. " My eyes," he would say, " are transplanted into my ears."
Yet, though blind, he could play backgammon very well. Hospitality
consumed his little farm. He ate, drank, and was merry, leaving the
morrow to provide for itself. It is not known at what period of his life
he became an itinerant musician, or whether it grew from necessity or
choice. His person was comely, his forehead intellectual, as may be
seen from an engraving of him to be seen in the Frontispiece. Walker
says, " Methinks I see him mounted on a good horse, and attended by a
harper in the character of a domestic, — for he at all times kept a good
pair of horses, and a servant to wait on him, — setting forth on his
journey, and directing his course towards Connaught. Wherever he
28

218 CAROLAN.

goes, the gates of the nobility and gentry are thrown open to him.
Like the Deniodocus of Homer, he is received with respect, and a dis-
tinguished place assigned him at the table. Near him is seated his
harper, ready to accompany his voice and supply his want of skill in
practical music." " Carolan," says Mr. Ritson, " seems, from the descrip-
tion we have of him, to be a genuine representative of the ancient bard."
Carolan had his love troubles. There is hardly any bard free from them.
Woman worships poetry and music, and he who has been blessed or
cursed with poetical or musical addictions, will have his share of her
smiles and frowns.

It was during his peregrinations that he composed all his beautiful
pieces. " Carolan," says Magee, in his Dublin Packet for 1784, " though
a modern minstrel, has been admired as a first-rate musical genius — an
untaught phenomenon in the cultivation of harmony. His music is in
every body's hands, and is in the highest degree popular." I have se-
lected some of Cardan's musical remains for these pages, which I hope
will not be neglected for airs of far less melody or merit.

His wit was prompt and pointed. Residing, at one time, in the house
of a parsimonious lady, who was sparing in her supply of his favorite
beverage, he heard the butler, O'Flinn, unlocking the cellar door, and,
following him, was repulsed rather surlily ; upon which he instantly
composed a bitter epigram in Irish, which is translated as follows : —

" What a pity hell's gates are not kept by O'Flinn ;
So surly a dog wonld let nobody in."

Not only Geminiana, but Handel, appreciated and praised Cardan's
powers : both these great composers were in Ireland. Carolan succeed-
ed in every kind of composition. Mr. O'Conor, the historian, makes
honorable mention of his sacred pieces. " On Easter day I heard him
play at mass. He called the piece ' Gloria in Excelsis Deo,' and he
sung that hymn in Irish verses as he played. At the Lord's Prayer he
stopped ; and after the priest ended it, he sang again, and played a piece
which he denominated the ' Resurrection.' His enthusiasm of devotion
affected the whole congregation." I have compressed Bunting's notice
of him into the following brief paragraph : —

The bards, according to the testimony of the Greek and Roman
writers Slrabo, Diodorus, Marcellinus, &c., existed among the ruder
branches of the Celtic tribes before the time of Augustus, emperor of
Rome, in the second century. We find them under the same name in
Ireland, from the earliest period of our history down to the year 1738,

REVIVAL OF IRISH MUSIC AFTER '82. 219

when Carolan died, who seems to have been born to render the termi-
nation of his order memorable and brilliant. If we reflect upon the
disadvantages under which he labored, — born blind, with slender oppor-
tunities of acquiring ideas, the inhabitant of a country recently deso-
lated by a civil war, the flames of which had scarcely subsided, and
add to this his own propensity to idleness and dissipation, — we cannot
but be astonished at the prodigious powers of his mind. He occasion-
ally tried almost every style of music, — the elegiac, the festive, the
amorous, and sacred, and has so much excelled in each, that we
scarcely know to which of them his genius was best adapted. His first
composition was plaintive and amorous, addressed to " Bridget Cruise,"
a lady to whom he was attached, without the hope of success.
He is said to have dedicated fifteen different pieces to her, all of which
are lost. "O'Rourke's Feast," the music of which he composed
for Mugh M'Gouran's ode, was much admired by Swift, who im-
mortalized it in his works. " Paudeen O'Rafferty " he composed
almost impromptu, on hearing that a little boy without pants had opened
a gate for him, on his way to Miss Cruise's residence. These melodies
will be found amongst the music of this work. His last piece was
inscribed to Dr. Stafford, his physician. He composed, early in life,
the Fairy (^ueen, Rose Dillon, and others of his serious pieces ;
but, after having established a reputation, and addicted himself too
much to festive company and the bottle, he spent his time in the
composition of his planxties , which required no labor or assiduity. We
may form some idea of the fertility of his genius, from this circumstance,
that a harper, attending the Belfast meeting, (in 1792,) who had never
seen him, and was not taught directly by any person that had an
opportunity of copying from him, had acquired upwards of a hundred
of his tunes, which, he said, constituted but a very inconsiderable part
of the real number. We need not wonder if nine tenths of his com-
positions be irreparably lost, as Carolan never taught any itinerant pupils,
except his own son, (who had no musical genius,) and as we have
never heard that any of his pieces were committed to writing until
several years after his death, when young Carolan, under the
patronage of Dr. Delany, edited a small volume. The Italians digni-
fied him with the name of Carolonius.

On the establishment of the parliamentary independence of Ireland,
in 1782, and the consequent growth of a young and buoyant public
spirit, such as happily characterizes her sons at present, (1844,) her music
was searched for among the ruins of her plundered shrines. Belfast, the

220 ASSEMBLY OF IRISH HARPERS.

birthplace of that glorious spirit, which was, unfortunately for Ireland,
misdirected in 1798, and which was calculated, under a wiser manage-
ment, to give her freedom, called into existence a national musical de-
sire, which produced a general convention of musicians from all parts of
Ireland. It assembled in 1792, in Belfast, at which the few remaining
harpers of Ireland attended. The celebrated Dr. Bunting was author-
ized by the Belfast committee to attend professionally, to take down the
airs according to modern notation, and in the English language, for the
purpose of forming a standard code of national music. The following is
a portion of his report of that celebrated meeting : —

" The compiler of this volume was appointed to attend, on that
occasion, to take down the various airs played by the different harpers,
and was particularly cautioned against adding a single note to the old
melodies, which were found, as we shall see, to have been preserved
pure, and handed down through a long succession of ages. Most of
the performers convened at the meeting were men advanced in life,
and all concurred in one opinion respecting the reputed antiquity of
those airs which they called ancient. They smiled on being interro-
gated concerning the era of such compositions, saying they were more
ancient than any to which our popular traditions extended.

" It would appear that the old musicians, in transmitting this music to
us through so m.any centuries, treated it with the utmost reverence, as
they seem never to have ventured to make the slightest innovation in
it during its descent. This inference we naturally deduce from our
finding that harpers, collected from parts far distant from one another,
and taught by different masters, always played the same tune on the
same key, with the same kind of expression, and without a single
variation in any essential passage, or even in any note. The beauty
and regularity with which the tunes are constructed appear surprising.
This circumstance seemed the more extraordinary, when it was dis-
covered that the most ancient tunes were, in this respect, the most
perfect, admitting of the addition of a bass with more facility than such
as were less ancient. Hence we may conclude that their authors must
necessarily have been excellent performers, versed in the scientific part
of their profession, and that they had originally a view to the addition
of harmony in the composition of their pieces. It is remarkable that
the performers all tuned their instruments on the same principle, totally
ignorant of the science of the principle itself, and without being able to
assign any reason, either for their mode of tuning or of their playing bass.
On an impartial review of all these circumstances, we are inclined to

MATHEMATICAL EXAMINATION OF THE IRISH HARP. 221

believe that those specimens which have survived and been transmitted
to us are only the wreck of better tunes, the history of which is either
lost, or incorrectly recognized in a confused series of traditions."

But Ireland, even in the ruins of her music, has yet much more
varied and touching melody than any other nation on earth can
boast of. What an old Scottish author applied to his country may,
with a slight alteration, be given to Erin.

"From the pastoral cot and shade

Thy favorite airs, my Erin, came,
By some obscure Beethoven made,

Or Handel, never kno-\vn to fame!
And hence tlieir notes, forever warm,
Like nature's self, must ever chann."

The scientific Beauford, in Walker's Bards, p. 344, furnishes a
learned paper on the construction and capability of the harp. He
enters into a critical and mathematical examination of its structure,
which he gives in several pages full of algebraical calculations, to
which I refer those who may doubt his result, which appears by the
following passages in his paper: —

" As the science of music advanced among the European nations,
the harp changed its form. Its original figure was, most probably, like
the harp of the Phrygians, a right-angled plain triangle ; but, as this
form was not capable of receiving, with convenience, a number of
strings, it was found more proper to alter the right angle to an oblique
one, and to give a curvature to the arm. The Irish hards, in 'particular,
seem, from experience derived from practice, to have discovered the
true musical figure of the harp — a form which will, on examination, be
found to have been constructed on true harmonic principles, and to
bear the strictest mathematipal and philosophic scrutiny, as I shall
endeavor to demonstrate in the following pages ; but, not having an
opportunity of examining a number of these instruments, I have taken
that in Trinity College, called Brien Boroimhe's harp, as the model of
the Irish harp in general. The Greeks constructed their triangular
harps of three, four, or five, and six, strings. But the old Irish bards
seem to have improved upon this system, for, by making the plane of
their harp an obhque-angled triangle, they fell into the true proportion
of their strings ; that is, as the diameter of a circle to its circumference,
which fully agrees also with the learned Dr. Young's laws relating to
the theory of sound. # * *

222 THE HARP OF TAUA.

" From what has been said, we see how near the Irish bards, in the
construction of their harp, came to mathematical correctness. Finding
the straight arm inconvenient, they constructed it in a curve, which,
most probably, they determined by the length of the strings, and the
length of the strings by their ear, which led them naturally to the
proportion of the circumference of a circle to its diameter and semi-
diameter from the beginning of the axis of the arm, or tension. This
method of dividing the musical scale was introduced by the late Mr.
Harrison, in his time-piece, as a new discovery. Little did that in-
genious mechanic think that it was discovered by men inhabiting woods
and bogs several centuries previous. I might, from the above datas,
consider the extent and perfection of the old Irish music ; but this
would carry me too far, and, indeed, would require a volume." —
April 10, 1786.

As allusion has been so pointedly made, by the above distinguished
writer, to the harp of Brien, also called the '• harp of Tara," I think
this the most fitting place to insert the following authorized history
of this venerated relic : —

THE HARP OF SRIEN BOROIMHE.

" The hero struck this harp in his battles, and, at the last glorious
victory of Clontarf, it was found in his tent, together with his crown,
by his nephew Donagh, who succeeded himself and all his sons who
fell on that dreadful day. In the close of Donagh's life in Munster, he
retired from the political theatre of his great uncle, and sought repose
in a monastery in Rome. Thither he carried with him the celebrated
harp of Brien, together with his golden crown, and other insignia of
royalty, which he presented to Pope Alexander the Second as presents.
The harp remained in the Vatican until Pope Leo the Tenth sent it and
other Irish relics as presents to Henry the Eighth, with the title of
king, defender of the faith. Some time after, Henry presented the
harp to his favorite, the first Earl of Clanrickard, in whose family it
remained until the beginning of the last century, when it came, in the
paraphernalia of Lady Ehzabeth Burgh, into the possession of her
husband. Colonel M'Mahon, of Clenagh, in the county of Clare,
after whose death it passed into the hands of Commissioner M'Na
mara of Limerick. In 1782, this wandering harp came into the pos-
session of the Right Honorable William Coningham, the father of the
marquis of that name, who was such a favorite with George the Fourth,

THE HARP OF TARA. 223

king of England. The marquis, to his credit, with a view of fixing
the future residence of the immortal harp of Brien, placed it in the
museum of Trinity College, Dublin. When George the Fourth visited
that city, he touched the single remaining wire-string which so often,
with its lost companions, sped the voice of melody into heroic souls,
under the masterly hand of the great Brien. This far-famed harp is
thirty-two inches high, and of extraordinarily good workmanship. The
sounding-board is of oak ; the arm and curved pillar of red sally ; the
point of the arm is capped with silver, extremely well wrought and
chiseled ; it contains a large and rich crystal, set in silver, and there
was another stone, now lost ; the ornamental knobs at the side are of
silver ; on the arm are the arms of the O'Brien family chased in silver,
the bloody hands supported by lions. On the sides of the curved
pillar are carved two Irish wolf dogs ; the holes of the sounding-
board, where the strings entered, are ornamented with escutcheons of
brass, carved and gilt. This harp has twenty-eight keys, and as many
string-holes ; consequently there were twenty-eight strings. The foot-
piece, or rest, is broken off, and the parts to which it was joined are very
rotten. The whole bears evidence of an accomplished and expert artist.

Brien, the great hero, was passionately fond of music, and used this
harp in his convivial hours, as w'ell as in private, to solace the troubles
of his great soul. Its remembrance, presented in the above sketch,
may quicken some spirit amongst us into activity in behalf of the per-
secuted land of Brien, Sarsfield, Emmett, Tone, Fitzgerald, and
O'Connell. And when Ireland shall be again what nature intended
her to be, that harp shall be taken into her senate, restrung, and shall
sound again the accents of the free.

The harp presented by Mary, Queen of Scots, to a young Scotch
lady, is of lighter construction than Brien's, and has thirty strings, but
of nearly the same form.

Mr. Gunn, in his Inquiry, has the followmg pretty passage : —

"I have been favored with a copy of an ancient Gaelic poem, to-
gether with the music to which it is still sung in the Highlands, in
which the poet personifies and addresses a very old harp, by asking
what had become of its former lustre? The harp replies, that it be-
longed to a king of Ireland, and had been present at many a royal
banquet ; that it had afterwards been successively in the possession of
Dargo, of Gaul, of Fillan, of Oscar, of O'Duine, of Diasmod, of a
physician, of a bard, and, lastly, of a priest, who, in a secluded corner,
was ' meditating on a white book.' "

224 MOORE REVIVES THE MUSIC OF IRELAND.

About the year 1750, the musical glasses, since improved into the
harmonica, were invented by Richard Pockrich, an Irishman, a name
which, Campbell says, ought not to be lost to the lovers of harmony.
With the celestial tones of this instrument, the sweetest within the
compass of melody, Mr. Pockrich once so charmed two bailiffs sent to
arrest him, that they became incapable of executing their office. He
was born to a good estate in the county of Monohan, in Ireland, but
outlived his property, and died poor.

The terrible and unfortunate revolution of 1798 again saturated the
fields of Ireland with blood. The spirit of liberty, of poetry, and of music,
which began to grow up in Ireland, was almost extinguished in the
purest blood of her people. A few years of death-like gloom succeeded
that bloody era. At length, Moore began to write. His lyrical scraps,
fluno- on the waves of public sentiment, burned on the surface like the
phosphoric stars that follow a ship's track over the ocean. His senti-
ment, breathed through the most beautiful language, penetrated the
hearts of the people, and created within them something like itself.
He found his songs sung to the old popular airs of the country, and
this induced him to set about adapting a series of songs to a portion, at
least, of the national melodies. With this view, he obtained the coop-
eration of Sir John Stephenson, the eminent musical composer of that
period. Sir John and himself made a musical tour through the interior
of Ireland, and heard the old songs sung, and the old airs played, by the
country people and the wandering musicians, whether harpers, pipers,
or fiddlers. A gathering was thus made from the ruins of our national
music. Several of those airs have been rendered still more popular by
the beauty of language or sentiment with which Moore reclothed them.
Sufficient has been rescued by diose two patriotic gentlemen to attract
the admiration of Europe.

On the publication of Moore's Melodies, in the years 1809 to 1812,
they immediately won unbounded popularity. They were sung in
every drawing-room, and charmed every circle. They passed over to
Britain, and won from our proud invaders the tribute which they so
richly merited. The lament of Erin, through her poetry and her music,
extorted a tear from their flinty hearts, as beautifully expressed by Moore
himself.

"The stranger shall hear thy lament on his plains,
The sigh of thy harp shall he sent o'er tlie deep,
Till thy masters themselves, as they rivet thy chains,
Shall pause at the song of their captive, and weep."

GENERAL REVIVAL OF IRISH MUSIC. 225

The Melodies of Moore worked miracles in the national sentiment,
which, indeed, they may be said to have created. Their melody and
their passion awoke the soul of Ireland from the torpor of slavery.

O'Connell felt the sentiment growing up around him which Moore's
poetry created, and never failed to point his speeches against tyranny
with the stings supplied, in endless profusion, by the accomplished bard.

The music of Ireland, from this date, began to revive rapidly : it was
introduced into the theatre in overtures and musical interludes. Even
the bands of the British regiments studied and played it. The 88th,
commonly called the Connaught Rangers, marched to the batde-ground
of Waterloo to the airs of " Garryowen " and " Patrick's Day," and
did not fall there from shots received in their backs.

These Melodies and music were published in six European languages
— a splendid evidence of their excellence. When the gatherings of
Moore and Sir John Stephenson made so great an impression in England
and throughout the continent, some of the Scotch writers, with their usual
love of country, claimed many of the airs as theirs, upon the ground of
these airs having been familiar in the Highlands time out of mind. Lord
Kaimes is positive that those airs called the old Scots^ tunes, were
originally Irish compositions, which James the First, who was himself a
good musician, had adapted to the church service ; and Pope had previ-
ously called Ireland the motlier of sweet singers. It is hardly necessary
to enter into a controversy about the authorship of modem Scotch music,
seeing that their best and principal airs were directly taken from Ireland,
as admitted by their own writers.

Even modern Italy worked into her musical code some of those beau-
tiful creations of Ireland, which Moore had clothed with such fascinating
drapery. The most eminent of their talented sons and daughters ad-
mitted this : Geminiani declared that the music of Ireland could not be
equalled on the western side of the Alps ; and Handel said that he would
rather be the author of iEllin a Roon than of the best of his own com-
positions. The celebrated Madame Malibran once entranced a select
party in London by an Irish composition, so altered by Italian variations
of her own creating, and by a change in the language, that they did not
detect the original basis upon which madame had raised her beautiful
fabric of sounds. It was rapturously applauded. One of the party
ventured to ask the name of the delightful song. She replied, to their
infinite surprise, with much naivete, it was the Irish air of the Coulin.

Within the last few years, several Irish musical composers have
followed in the path beaten out by Moore and Sir John Stephenson.
29

226 LOVEK. BALFE. SUCCESSFUL COMPOSERS.

Lover stands prominent as a good poet, story-teller, and musical
composer — a true specimen of the old Irish bard. His popular song?,
" A baby was sleeping," the " Fairy Boy," and others, have stamped
his name with the characteristics of poet and musician ; and his
" Rory O'More " is literally in every one's memory, both in the old
world and the new. Some of these will be found in the musical pages.

Balfe, too, has shed his sentimental beauties on the stream of his
country's melody. His chief productions have been brought before the
Dublin and London musical audiences, in the shape of operas, which
have won alike the approbation of the refined and scientific. His ''Bo-
hemian Girl " has been performed many successive nights in New York,
winning the utmost applause. Mr. Brooke has produced some operatic
music that keeps its place on the stage. '

The songs of the writers in the Dublin Nation, and of many other
compatriot poets, have astonished Europe by their number, power, and
beauty. Some of these will be found in this work, set to such Irish airs
as I deemed fitted their spirit and metre.

The spirit which now animates Ireland seems to be composed as well
of poetic or musical, as of patriotic and martial elements. It is a glo-
rious spirit, call it what we may. Never before was the ark of liberty
floated by a prouder, safer, stronger current. Bishops and priests, as of
old, sing the songs of freedom. The towering Machale has struck the
dearsah of Ireland, and the lowly priest of Drogheda, Father Burke,
has made several dearsahs (harps) of the size of the harp of Tara.
These he so far improved that the harpers taught by him, who play
upon them, delight the social circles, as of old. That reverend and
patriotic gentleman has established a musical college in Drogheda, and
holds an annual musical festival, at which many harpers attend at the
contests of melody, as in the olden days.

With the return of liberty to the Emerald Isle, her music, which is the
genuine language of happy hearts, shall resume its throne in the public
mind, and create, and sustain with its voice, the food on which it
lives.

I hope to be excused for giving so many pages to the subject of music.
As a passionate admirer of the divine art, I conjecture (erroneously per-
haps) that others will be pleased to dwell on that which fascinated me.
I am sure there is a principle in our nature that acts in sympathetic
union with a concord of sweet sounds. Music excites the most tender
and refined, as well as the most powerful, emotions of which humanity
is susceptible. In the church, it lifts up, the heart to a community with

GENERAL. EFFECTS OF MUSIC. 227

God. In the festive assembly, it is the very soul from which delight
radiates on all within its influence. In the camp, it is the best symbol
of order and discipline. In the combat, it is more inspiring than the
commander's voice. At military funerals, it spreads melancholy and
sorrow on all around ! And in the serenade, the voice of sweet
music, floating on the midnight breeze, arouses beauty from delectable
dreams to a reality still more delightful !

The best play in the theatre would go lamely off without appropriate
music. Children can be kept in good temper by the lullaby of the
nurse. It will silence their cries, dry up their tears, and bring sunshine
into their little eyes. It will tame the vicious horse in the plough more
effectually than the lash. " The ploughman's whistle is better than his
goad." In the cottage, it stirs the limbs of the over-labored, and sets
the weary heart dancing. The aged live over again under its influ-
ence, and the young brighten into ecstasy. On the high and giddy mast,
it is the solace of the seaman. The voice of his own song cheers the
helmsman, in the midnight watch. The traveller plods his way more
merrily when he sings, and the laborer, by the same means, gets rid of
half his toil.

Tell us, ye philosophic few, by what secret means are all our faculties,
physical and mental, worked upon by this charmer? In what way
does it reach the valves of the heart, that our tears gush forth or recede
at its bidding ? How does it so mix with the blood, that it stirs to frenzy,
and, anon, calms to repose ? How does it fasten on the gristly sinews
and muscles, stiffening them up to supernatural power, which, at its
pleasure, it again relaxes into softened inactivity ? How does its subtile
influence steal along our thrilling nerves, through every recess and
region of our frame, changing our features, at its will, into joyful, heroic,
pious, melancholy, or merry combinations ?

It flies through the frame more rapidly than the most powerful poison,
or its antidote. Would it not be a powerful auxiliary to the phy-
sician in restoring the convalescent, or even assuaging the pains of
the sick ? View this component part of our nature whichsoever way
we will, it appears to me to be a highly-important gift from our Creator,
conferred upon us, like speech itself, for our happiness. If we neglect
its cultivation, or reject its use, we deprive ourselves of a portion, at
least, of that earthly pleasure which God conferred upon Adam and
Eve before their fall, and which, in his mercy, he permitted to remain
with man to sustain him through the labors and miseries attendant on
our fallen nature.

228 ATTEMPT TO DEFINE MUSIC.

"Harmony from heaven descended,
Soaring first when chaos ended,
And through time and space extended
Heaven's first decree.

The very soul itself refining,
All that's great and good combining,
God, and man, and angels, joining,
Hail thee. Harmony ! "

Music is, in reality, simple. Nature gives forth its own melody,
which can be regulated by a few general rules, so as to affect the hearts
of the majority of those who hear it. 1 have ventured to define its
nature in my section on the bards, which I shall here repeat. Poetry
is the regulated effervescence of the brain. It is part of the excitement
which takes place beyond the demands for natural wants, and thus dis-
plays itself in flights called imagination. Good poetry is the able display
oi feeling, and good prose the able display of fact, correct reasoning,
and acquired knowledge.

Music is the more sublimated expression of human feeling. Its effect
depends upon the power and variation of the sounds which convey it.
It is an agreeable stream of well-contrasted sounds, formed according to
the standard of the human voice, in a natural key, continually varying
from that key to a lower or higher pitch, but uttered in a manner agree-
able to the oi'gans of hearing, or the seat of sensations in the brain.
Music, like language, delights in simple sounds ; yet refinement, as it
proceeds, sanctions a skilful deviation from simple sound as the acme
of science. An ear accustomed or educated to these deviations, must
be continually fed by like sounds, for it sickens at the pure voice of
nature. In the same way does the appetite of one who has been fed
from childhood on compound cookery — on food tortured from its natu-
ral flavor by every imaginable invention — sicken against plain meats,
presented in their original elements.

Instrumental music requires much more study, and many more rules,
to form it, than vocal, because the effort is an artificial imitation of nature,
and approaches nearer to perfection, as it imitates nature more exactly.
In proportion as our musical taste — that is, the sense of hearing and
discriminating — becomes accustomed to deviations from the pure sounds
of nature, the pleasure we derive from pure melody is diminished. This
refinement may be said to remove the ear so far from the heart, that the
essence of music (melody) cannot reach it. Most of the scientific
music which we hear, is calculated only to display the brilliant execution

STYLE OF THE FASHIONABLE PERFORMERS. 229

of the performer, and to occasion a gentle titillation in the organs of
hearing; and many of the great masters who perform on the violin, harp,
bugle, or piano-forte, to hear whom we pay high prices, seem to disdain
the use of melody altogether, and to be ashamed to be supposed capable,
or accustomed, to play a simple tune as it was originally composed.
Their performances consist of flourishes on their instrument, displaying
the effect of great practice, but shedding out none of that soul of music,
which the poet conceived and expressed in the following familiar and
immortal distich : —

" Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast,
To soften rocks and bend the knotted oak."

But the music we are accustomed to hear at some of the fashionable
concerts is certainly not of that nature. The performers, for the most
part, come before the audience as if it were only for the purpose of
tuning their instruments, and to show what they could do, if they had
a mind. They run up and down the scale in capricious phantasies, and
when we think they are about to commence, they make an obeisance and
retire, amid thunders of applause. — " O ! there be players that I have
heard play, — and heard others praise, and that highly, — that, having
neither the tones of music, nor the soul of music, have so strutted and
puffed, so strained their instruments, and split our ears, that I have
thought some of nature's journeymen had made them, and not made
them well, they imitated nature so abominably."

Complication in music advances with the musical education of the
ear. The grave and sober Correlli and Arne gave way to Haydn
and Mozart, who, in turn, gave way to Beethoven and Rossini ; but
mehdy belongs to the imagination, and not to science ; it belongs to
nature, and not to art. Some are well skilled in the complication of
music, but are not gifted with melody ; or rather that melody, originally
planted in their hearts by nature, has been extinguished by a scientific
violation of her laws. They cannot be called musicians, but are
merely dexterous players. Musicians of this character will never,
they may depend on it, "bend the knotted oak," or "soothe the
savage breast."

Gardiner, in his Music of Nature, analyzes the components of sound,
and examines the organs of hearing. I will endeavor to make plainer,
while I extract, a few of his subtile but valuable ideas. Sound and
light, or tones and colors, are produced by two different affections of the
very same medium ; every sound is a mixture of three tones, just as a
ray of light is of three colors ; the union of the key note with the fifth

230 NATURE OF SOUND.

and octave is the common chord. The diatonic scale is the prism of
sound. White light may be decomposed into three colors ; and every
sound is a compound of three tones. Atoms of oxygen and nitrogen in
conjunction may produce one tone or color, oxygen another lone or color,
and nitrogen a third tone or color. One is the excitement or propulsion
of atoms called light, and the other the propulsion of a gross volume
called sound. The atmosphere will affect both. It will affect espe-
cially the human voice, which oftentimes has to contend, in thronged
rooms, against a dense volume of vapor, in which the vital gases have
been consumed by the frequent respiration of the same volume of air.
And if the singer has been unused, for some time previously, to the
enjoyment of fresh air, in which oxygen and nitrogen shall be fully
represented, the voice will lack that elasticity which is necessary to
strike vigorously on the atmosphere, and produce a pure, clear sound.

Every vibration and propulsion of atoms, in the aerial elements, in-
cludes, on examination, the prismatic and diatonic scales. Both scales
are chemical, and are produced by the very atoms which produce all
our chemical and electrical phenomena : the scales are similar, because
they are the measures of the effects upon the same sensorium. The
figures agree, since a volume of five parts of atmospheric air is four
measures of nitrogen and one oxygen, and every sound is composed of
the fundamental note, its fifth, and octave, whose square is twenty-five
and one hundred, or one to four.

Sound arises from vibrations of the air, as may be seen by the vibra-
tions in the water of a musical glass, and by the affections of light bodies
laid on strings in concord, and they may be felt by the vibrations of all
instruments. Sound affects particles of dust, or the animalcule seen in
a sunbeam. The delicacy and intensity with which the vibrations of
sound reach the ear, prove the fulness of space in aerial atoms. We
distinguish tones, says Phillips, when the vibrations are seven thousand
in a second. The lowest tone which the ear can discriminate is, ac-
cording to some, twelve and a half undulations in a second, to others
thirty, and the most acute, above seven thousand. Every ear differs
from another in its powers of sensibility or accuracy. The harmonies
of one sound are the separate effects of different parts of the string.
Water is a better conductor of sound than air ; wood also is a powerful
conductor of sound, and so is flannel or ribbon. Deaf persons may
converse through deal rods held between the teeth, or held to their
throat or breast. The best form for a concert room, or speaking hall, is
an oblong, or double cube ; the fewer elliptical surfaces the better ; and

ORGANS OF HEARING. MECHANISM OF THE THROAT, &;C. 231

the roof or ceiling should be finished quite plainly, and perfectly semi-
circular. An echo returns a monosyllable at seventy feet distance, and
another syllable at every forty feet distance. All sound appears to be
echo or reflection ; and if not a distinct echo, it is only for want of dis-
tance. The speaker, or performer, should stand at the end, and not
at the side, of a room. If the room be square, as many are, he
should get towards a comer, and send his tones towards the corner oppo-
site to that in which he stands. Public speakers derive great advantage
from the practice of singing. Effective speakers modulate the tones of
their voice, agreeably to the true principles of music, though frequently
knowing little of the science which governs those principles. The
words should be chosen, like notes in music, of all lengths : the adagios
of Haydn and Beethoven are, like passages of Milton and Shak-
speare, made of words slow and rapid.

The sense of hearing arises from, or is regulated by, an expansion of
nerves into the inner chamber of the ear, and these receive the vibra-
tions of the tympanum — a strained membrane. This elastic membrane
is damped by a small bone called the mallet; but, like a drum, it will not
transmit to the brain two loud sounds in immediate succession. These
delicate organs are pleased with a succession of pure sounds, varied in
their length, loudness, and tone. The pleasure can be increased by
tormenting them for a moment with discords, or harsh or flat tones,
returning again to the same sweet notes in which they delighted, or to
others in a higher or lower strain, agreeably to the key on which the
air is constructed. The key is the bass or centre of any system of
notes, and gives character to the composition. Old songs were com-
posed in G minor. When F is made the key or bass of any melody,
the effect is rich and grave ; but its relative, D minor, is more sombre.
C is bold and energetic, and its relative, A minor, is similar, but plaintive.
G is gay and lively, but its relative, E minor, soft and tender. D is
grand- and lofty, but its relative, B minor, complaining. A is glowing,
but F sharp minor mournful. The sharps of E are brilliant and spar-
kling. The sharps of B are piercing. B flat is dull, and G minor
melancholy. E flat is mellow and soft, and C minor complaining;
A flat, delicate and tender, but its relative, F minor, gloomy. D flat
major is solemn and awful.

The point of action in the voice is in the throat, and level with the
hair in the back of the neck. As singers raise or lower this point, the
tone is harsh, hard, thick, throaty, and guttural. High notes are produced
by lessening the aperture and increasing the velocity of the breath.

232 WIND INSTRUMENTS.

If the lowest notes would permit the passage of a billiard ball, the
highest should permit but a pea. The notes of the musical scale are
formed by the contraction or enlargement of the rima glottidis, an
aperture in the larynx, over the windpipe. In the passage leading from
the mouth to the lungs, just within the part of the neck where " Eve's
apple " protrudes, are situated two sets or pairs of muscles, one of them
about an inch above the other, of a half-moon shape, thick and attached
at their circumference, but thin and pendulous in the centre of the pas-
sage. These muscles are situated so nearly at opposite sides, that, when
the air, in passing out from the lungs, causes them to vibrate, they nearly
close the opening. The vibrations of these muscles produce sounds just
as the strings of the viol produce them when vibrating under the bow. It
is like the reed in wind instruments, but susceptible of the most delicate
variations. So astonishingly great is the number of these vibrations, that
it is now believed the human voice is capable of one thousand changes,
perceptible to a musical ear. These changes are all produced by the ac-
tion of these muscles, in obedience to volition, or at will ; they are greatly
strengthened, and capable of surprising modification by exercise ; it is
said that some voices are able to give two to three hundred changes in
one breath. Braham, Farinelli, and Mrs. Wood, could give three hon'
dred without drawing breath ; but these are prodigies. Ordinary good
voices are exhausted by fifty.

The human voice is governed by the laws which apply to wind in-
struments. The throat is the tube, and the chest and lungs the wind-
bag. By pressing the wind through the aperture in the throat, (already
described,) subject to a variety of compressions, in its passage, the music,
with all its variations, is obtained. Ferlandi played on an oboe with
one leather joint, by twisting which he imitated the tones of the human
windpipe. But the human pipe exceeds, for variety and delicacy, all
the pipes ever invented. The reason why we always have the same
sound from organ-pipes is, because they are always blown by a bellows,
with a certain weight thereon, and therefore the sound is the same.

It appears that, by lengthening the trombone, in the middle of a note,
the force of the breath being kept the same, a new note is produced.
Again, the trombone can be drawn out and made to produce the same
note by blowing differently ; that is, by making a larger a}>erture in the
mouth, and blowing with less force. Those who sing will always
derive advantage from considering these general principles — principles
which, if applied to the exercise of the voice, cannot fail to produce
full, melodious, and correct tones. These rules apply generally to the

Moore's suggestions for singing his melodies. 233

flute, clarionet, and all wind instruments, and I introduce these remarks
to give a clearer idea of the nature of the human instrument, which
every one is blessed with, and which is superior to all others.

The Italians call the lower notes the voce di petto, the voice of the
breast ; and the higher notes the voce di testa, or voice of the head.
The former is called the language of the heart ; the latter, or upper
notes in men, is called falsetto. The nose and roof of the mouth are
the sounding-board of the voice. The teeth, the bridge of the lips, and
tongue, on whose activity, form, and skilful use, depend the modulations
of tone, — the speaking, singing voice, — is a machine whose use children
should be taught. It is curious, but perfectly true, that children who
are nursed by a woman who sings in their infant ears, have generally a
taste for music, and those nursed by one who does not sing, are rarely
ever good musicians. So delicate is the nature of our infant sensibilities,
that we partake of the character of that mental or spiritual atmosphere
into which we first respire.

Persons who sing before assemblies should eat very little, or indeed
nothing, for three or four hours ere they begin : keeping the stomach
empty enables one to take in more breath at a draught. Any candies,
preparations, or drinks, that stimulate the palate, tongue, &-c., are bad.
They generally beget thirst, which creates a rough surface in the throat,
tongue, lips, &,c., which alters the tones materially. Cobbett remarks that,
in defending himself on a charge of libel, he spoke six hours without
ceasing, — refreshing his lips and throat by now and again eating a
mouthful of common suet.

I will here introduce a few observations from Moore and some others,
on the style in which the sentimental music of Ireland should be sung
and played. Rapidity and ornament in the execution kill it. I have
heard too many murder those melodies in this way.

Let us hear Moore himself, on this: "It has always been a subject
of some mortification to me, that my songs, as they are set, give such a
very imperfect notion of the manner in which I wish them to be per-
formed, and that most of that peculiarity of character which I believe
they possess as I sing them myself, is lost in the process they must
undergo for publication ; but the truth is, that, not being sufficiently
practised in the rules of composition to rely upon the accuracy of my
own harmonic arrangements, I am obliged to submit my rude sketches to
the eyes of a professor before they can encounter the criticism of the
musical world, and, as it too frequently happens that they are indebted
for their originality to the violation of some established law, the hand

that corrects their errors is almost sure to destroy their character, and
30

234 Willis's description of moore's singing.

the few little flowers they boast are pulled away with the weeds. In
singing them myself, however, I pay no such deference to criticism, but
usually give both air and harmony according to my own first conception
of them, with all their original faults, but, at the same time, all their
original freshness. I know I shall be told, by the learned musician,
that whatever infringes the rules of composition must be disagreeable to
the ear, and that, according to the pure ethics of the art, nothing can
possibly be pleasant that is wrong; but I am sorry to say that I am
lawless enough to disagree with him, and have sometimes been even so
lost to all sense of musical rectitude, as to take pleasure in a profane
succession of fifths." * * * " Wherever I have been content tore-
main simply in the key in which I began, without wandering from home
in search of discords and chromatics, I have not only been independent
of critical aid, but the strains I have produced were much more
touching and effective.

" There is but one instruction T should venture to give to any person
desirous of doing justice to the character of these ballads, and that is, to
attend as little as possible to the rhythm, or time in singing them. The
time, indeed, should always be made to wait upon the feehng, but par-
ticularly in this style of musical recitation, where the words ought to
be as nearly spoken as is consistent with the swell and sweetness
of intonation, and where a strict and mechanical observance of time
completely destroys all those pauses, lingerings, and abruptnesses, which
the expression of passion and tenderness requires. The truth of this
remark needs but little enforcement to those who have ever heard a song
of feeling and delicacy passed along in the unrelenting trammels of an
orchestra."

Willis, in his Pencilings, describes an interview he had with Moore,
while in London, at Lady Blessington's. It portrays the effect of
Moore's singing in few words, and in a practical way.

"We went up to coffee, and Moore brightened again over his chasse
cafe, and went glittering on with criticisms on Grisi, Pasta, and others
of the choral goddesses now ravishing the worid. This introduced
music very naturally, and, with a good deal of difficulty, he was taken to
the piano. Its effect is only equalled by the beauty of his own words ;
and for one, I could have taken him into my heart, with my delight.
He makes no attempt at music. It is a kind of admirable recitative, in
which every shade of thought is syllabled and dwelt upon, and the sen-
timent of the song goes through your blood, warming you to the very
eyelids, and starting your tears, if you have soul or sense in you. I
have heard of women's fainting at a song of Moore's, and if the burden

EFFECT OF AN IRISH TUNE ON A BOSTON AUDIENCE. 235

of it answered by chance to a secret In the bosom of the listener, I
should think, fronn its comparative effect upon so old a stager as myself,
that the heart would break with it.

" We all sat round the piano, and, after two or three songs of Lady
Blessington's choice, he rambled over the keys awhile, and sang ' When
first I met thee warm and young ' with a pathos that beggars descrip-
tion. When the last word had faltered out, he rose and took Lady B.'s
hand, said ' Good night,' and was gone before a word was uttered. For
a full minute alter he had closed the door, no one spoke. I could have
wished, for myself, to drop silently asleep where I sat, with the tears in
my eyes, and the softness upon my heart."

I remember well the effect of those melodies on a theatre full of all
sorts of people, in Dublin. I was in the theatre on the night of
Moore's visit, in the spring of 1838. He sat in one of the dress boxes.
There were with him Lady Morgan, Counsellor Finlay. Mr. and Miss
Kelly, and other friends of his youth. The airs which he had gathered
and immortalized were played successively before him by the orchestra,
in a beautiful medley. At each change from one well-known air to
another, the audience poured forth a peal of unbridled applause. It
affected him thoroughly. It was a delightful, and at the same time a
melancholy moment. The remembrance came upon us of some who
loved those tunes, now in the cold grave ; of the hopes of freedom
breathed by the bard yet unrealized ; of the chains of slavery yet hang-
ing round us. He spoke, — for the audience would have him speak, —
but he could say little ; his gestures were more eloquent than the tongue
of any man ; he alluded to his origin — Irish ; his heart — Irish ; his
songs — Irish, which had passed into the languages of six nations ;
which were sung on the banks of the Vistula, the Rhine, the Ganges,
the St. Lawrence, as well as the Shannon. Peal upon peal of applause
followed. The curtain drew up for the afterpiece. I shall never forget
that night, or the effect of that proud swell of my country's music.

At one of the most fashionable concerts that ever took place in
Boston, which was given by the celebrated violinist Ole Bull., at the
Melodeon, on the 27th May, 1844, he played the Irish melody, " The
last rose of summer." It was encored. The same air was then
played, by that musical prodigy Master Hughes, on the harp, and it was
again encored. Perhaps, in the history of music, such an excitement
never was produced on an audience as that produced by the masterly
execution of this simple Irish melody by these two genuine mastei"s
of the human heart. There were nearly two thousand of the most
respectable citizens of Boston, who witnessed that fact.

236 horncastle's collection.

I append one more attestation to the same general purpose from an
English musician, the leader of her majesty's sacred choir. I extract it
from the London Sun of October 18, 1844. "Mr. Homcastle, of the
Queen's Chapel Royal, has published a volume entitled the ' Music of
Ireland' — a collection of beautiful, perhaps matchless melodies. The
service which the composer has rendered to music, and even to ethnol-
c^, by the preservation and publication of those exquisite relics of
cmdent science and refinement, is enhanced by his judicious as well as
reverential abstinence from attempts at improving perfection. In this
respect, he stands very much above his predecessor in the same field,
Sir John Stevenson ; for he at once admits that the old music of Ire-
land, as it is found, is not the wild effusion of a rude and simple people,
but is the production of a school in a high degree methodized, skilful,
and cultivated. The Irish keine, according to Mr. Homcastle, is a
noble and most expressive piece of music. These keines serve as
examples of the most beautiful harmonic composition, and prove, be-
yond a doubt, that music in those early ages was in the highest state
of cultivation. Yet to this day, the humblest of the people are the
only depositaries of these great works. There is a close affinity existing
between the poetry of the Latins and that of the Irish. The first ode
of Horace is perfectly adapted as written for the Irish melody of ' I
am asleep, and don't waken me.' It may be worth asking. Did Horace
know and use the Irish tune ? "

The foregoing confirms, in a striking manner, the opinion to a like
effect recorded by Dr. Burney, as follows: "It is certain that the
further we explore, while yet any light remains, the more highly is
Irish border minstrelsy extolled. The oldest Irish tunes are said to
be the most perfect." — Burnefs Music; Historical and Critical
Dissertation on the Harp.

MUSIC AND POETRY.

237

STRIKE THE HARP TO ERIN'S GLORY!

MUSIC AND WORDS BY T. MOONEY.

RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO MISS D-

MONTREAL, ON HEARING HER PLAT

(which SHE DID DIVINELY) AN IRISH MELODY ON THE IRISH HARP.

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1. Strike the Harp to E - rin's glory ! Strike the Harp to

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238

MUSIC AND POETRY.

zins:

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ter - ni - ty, They call on E - rin to be free !

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Now our swords are brightly gleaming !

Now our banners proudly streaming !

Now the victory is won,

And Freedom shouts, " They run ! they run ! "

Now our hearts are proudly swelling!

Now the tyrant's death is knelling !

Hark ! that shout, across the sea,

Tells us Erin now is free !

Hark ! that shout, across the sea,

Tells us, Erin now is free !

KATE KEARNEY.

1. O, did you not hear of Kate Kearney?

She

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MUSIC AND POETRY.

239

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For that eye is so modestly beaming,
You'd ne'er think of mischief she's dreaming;
Yet, O, I can tell how fatal's the spell
That lurks in the eye of Kate Kearney.

O, should you e'er meet this Kate Kearney,
Who lives on the banks of Killarney,
Beware of her smile, for many a wile
Lies hid in the smile of Kate Kearney.

4.
Though she looks so bewitchingly simple,
Yet there's mischief in every dimple ;
And who dares inhale her sigh's spicy gale,
Must die by the breath of Kate Kearney.

240

MUSIC AND POETRY.

'TIS THE LAST ROSE OF SUMMER.

BY MOORE.

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RTUSIC AND POETRY.

241

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To pine on the stem !
Since the lovely are sleeping.

Go, sleep thou with them ;
Thus kindly I scatter

Thy leaves o'er the bed,
Where thy mates of the garden

Lie scentless and dead !

So soon may I follow,

When friendships decay.
And from love's shining circle

, The gems drop away !
When true hearts lie withered,

And fond ones are flown,
O ! who would inhabit
This bleak world alone !
31

242

MUSIC AND POETRY.

THE ANGEL'S WHISPER.

BY LOVER.

A superstition of great beauty prevails in Ireland, that token a child smiles in its
sleep, it is talking to angels.

, Andante.

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MUSIC AND POETRY.

243

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cried, " Dermot, dar - ling, O, come back to me."

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Her beads while she numbered,

The baby still slumbered,
And smiled in her face as she bended her knee ;

" O, blessed be that warning,

My child, thy sleep adorning, —
For I know that the angels are whispering to thee.

" And while they are keeping

Bright watch o'er thy sleeping,
O, pray to them softly, ray baby, with me;

And say thou wouldst rather

They'd watch o'er thy father, —
For I know that the angels are whispering with thee."

The dawn of the morning

Saw Dermot returning;
And the wife wept with joy her babe's father to see,

And closely caressing

Her child, with a blessing.
Said, "I knew that the angels were whispering with thee."

244

MUSIC AND POETRY.

THE MEETING OF THE WATERS.

BY MOORE.

LL it With ExpREssiofr,

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MUSIC AND POETRY.

245

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Yet it was not that Nature had shed o'er the scene
Her purest of crystal, and brightest of green ;
'Twas not the soft magic of streamlet or hill ; —
O, no ! it was something more exquisite still 1

3.
'Twas that friends, the beloved of my bosom, were near,
Who made each dear scene of enchantment more dear;
And who felt how the best charms of Nature improve.
When we see them reflected from looks that we love.

4.
Sweet Vale of Ovoca ! how calm could I rest,
In thy bosom of shade, with the friends I love best!
Where the storms which we feel in this cold world should cease,
And our hearts, like thy waters, be mingled in peace!

246

MUSIC.

O'ROURKE'S FEAST.

(PLEIG ZACANA NA RUARCAC.)
BY C AROLAN.

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247

CAROLAN'S CONCERTO.

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LECTUEE VII.

FROM 880 B. C. TO THE CHRISTIAN ERA.
SECTION I.

Resumption of the historic Chain at the Death of OUamh Fodhla. — Twenty Kings
and a Queen, who succeeded him in a Space of three hundred Years. — War
Chariots invented. — MiUtary Fortifications. — Mihtary Code. — Carthaginian and
Irish Weapons identical. — Ancient Mines of Ireland. — Plenteousness of Gold and
Silver. — Mints. — Coins. — Napoleon's Imperial Crown made of Irish Gold. —
Palace of Emania. — Queen Mecha seizes on the Sceptre. — Irish Archers. — Robin
Hood beaten by an Irishman in Feats of Archery. — The Monarch Righ Dhearg
invades the Picts. — Jughaine the Great passes into Gaul. — Leads an Army against
Greece. — Division of Ireland into Counties. — Murder of Jughaine. — Exile of
his Son Maon. — Revolution effected by Music. — Maon established on the
Throne. — Reign of Aongus the Second. — Aids the Carthaginians in their Wars
with Greece, and with Rome.— Birth o^ Fear- Mara, the Sea-Child. — The Parent
of the Royal Line of Scotland. — Division of Ireland into four Provinces, and a
Monarchy. — Palace of Cruighain, in Connaught, built. — Queen Meibhe. — Insur-
rection of the Bards. — Laws for regulating the Burial of the Dead. — The Knights'
Mode of Burial. — Ancient Surgery. — Chivalry. — Traditions of Chivalry. — In-
stitutions of Knighthood in Ireland. — Various Orders. — Academies for their
Education'. — Their Mode of Training. — Their Oaths. — Their Magnanimity.—
Their Tilts and Tournaments. — Military Renown of Ireland acknowledged. — The
vahant Cuchullen. — Battle of Mullacrew described.

880 B. C. I NOW resume the historic narrative, requesting the reader
to call back to his recollection, that we dropped it [page 57] at the
establishment of the parliament of Tara, by OUamh Fodhla, 920 years
before the birth of Christ. Having dwelt at some length upon the
character of that eminently wise prince, who was the twentieth of the
Milesian kings since the foundation of the kingdom, we take up the
succession of events from his death, which took place A. M. 3122, or
880 years before the Christian era.

The monarchs who succeeded Ollamh, for a period of three hundred
years, numbered twenty, which gave an average reign of fifteen years
to each.

The recital of the events of their separate reigns would be tedious,

WAR CHARIOTS INVENTED. 249

and occupy space which can be filled with matter more interesting to
the present generation. I shall merely glance at the development of
inventions, customs, and occasional acts specially deserving to be
remembered, which grew up during the three hundred years they
reigned.

In the reign of Rothceathca, the Irish manufactured war chariots, to
the sides and wheels of which they attached scythes, or long, sharp
knives, and drove them, by fui'ious horses, through the ranks of their
enemies. The Gauls, seven hundred years after that peiiod, according
to Caesar, used these destructive engines in their wars with the Romans.
O'Halloran says they were manufactured for them by the Irish; and
Julius Cssar informs us that he used this very contrivance in his con-
quest of Britain.

In the reign of EU?n we read, for the first time, of military fortifica-
tions, which were invented by him. He cut deep trenches, and raised
high breastworks of earth, lined with stone, around the different stations,
in which he garrisoned his troops. He completed seven of those stations ;
but, in after periods, in the Danish wars, these duns, or fortifications, were
amazingly increased, and there are many of them yet remaining through-
out Ireland.

The Psalter of Cashell tells us that Elim, for these inventions, got the
name of Imboch, or Stagnant Water.

Seadhna the Second wrote a code of laws and discipline for the milita-
ry, which proved to be a guide and standard for many ages afterwards,
and he fixed the pay of soldiers to consist of part food, part clothes, and
part money, which continues the practice of England to this day. His
is the earhest treatise on military tactics that we find on record. In suc-
ceeding ages, Mago, the Carthaginian, and Arrian, the Greek, wrote
on the same subject.

In those days, a close intercourse was kept up between the Cartha-
ginians and the Irish. Sometimes, indeed, the Carthaginians approached
the Irish coasts as pirates or invaders, but were universally resisted with
great slaughter. Antiquaries have proved that the Carthaginian swords
found near the plains of Cannae, in Italy, which are now in the British
Museum, and the old Irish swords so frequently found in bogs and
morasses, are, as to make, form, and mixture of metals, so exactly
similar, as to appear to have come out of the same mint.

Governor Pownal compared some Irish swords in the possession of
Lord Milton, found very deep in the bog of CuUen, in the county Tip-
perary, with those in the British Museum, and requested the assay-
32

250 CABTHAGINIAN AND IRISH WEAPONS IDENTICAL.

master of the mint to analyze both. This he accordingly did, and found
the proportion of metals composing thein so exactly corresponding, that
he declared they must have been cast in the same furnace. They are
both, says the mint master, a mixture of copper, of iron, and perhaps r)f
some zinc ; they take an exquisite polish, and carry a very sharp edge,
and are firm and elastic. They are so peculiarly formed as to resist any
kind of rust, as appears when taken out of bogs after lying there for ages.
Our annals remark on the great plenteousness of our mines, and the
knowledge and art displayed by our ancestors in all that related to their
domestic fabrications. It is quite natural to conclude that those remark-
able swords were of their own manufacture. On this head, O'Halloran
has the following : —

" But as our annals particularly remark on the abundance of mines
and minerals in our country, and the ingenuity of our artists, the candid
reader will agree with me, I think, that the Carthaginians imported their
swords from us in the course of traffic, as Ireland was in that age un
equalled for the elegance of her arms."

Camden says, the massy gold and silver chalices, candlesticks, plate,
utensils, ornaments, and images of saints, seized by Queen Elizabeth in
the Irish abbeys, brought more than a million sterling.

Sir James Ware alleges that, in 1639, an urn full of the coins of the
monarch Eadhna Dcarg, who reigned 700 years before the birth of
Christ, was found in a Druidical cave in the county Clare. These
coins were of silver, and as large as an English shilling; on one side
was the impression of the monarch's head, and on the reverse, Hibernia
bearing in her hand the wand entwined with a serpent. Two of these
coins are to be seen in the museum of Trinity College, Dublin.

Warner, the English historian, has the following in reference to the
mineral properties of Ireland : —

" The mountains of Ireland are full of mines and minerals. Gold
and silver must have been very plenty in this country in ancient times,
as all the knights wore golden helmets and chains, and a shield of the
same precious metal. The Earl of Strafford sent over to Charles the
First a bit of a bridle, of solid gold, of ten ounces' weight, found by
workmen who were digging in lands in the county Tipperary. The
same nobleman sent also an ingot of silver to the royal mint from the
mines of the county Tipperary, which weighed three hundred ounces ;
and in his letter to the secretary of state, he says that the lead mines of
Munster were so rich, that every load of lead had in it forty pounds of
pure silver.*

* See Mines of Ireland^ towards the conclusion.

ANCIENT MINES. MINTS AND COINS. 251

There are many considerable collieries in various parts of the kingdom,
probably enough to supply all Europe with coal ; but for want of gov-
ernment encouragement, they are neglected. Besides these, there are
numerous iron mines and lead mines in the island. There is one lead
mine, in the county of Antrim, so rich that from every thirty pounds of
lead one pound of silver is yielded. By the report of the railway com-
missioners, published by authority of jhe British parliament, in 1839, it
is shown that eleven of the thirty-two counties of Ireland are studded
with every species of mineral wealth.

In fine, nature designed Ireland for the operations of art and agricul-
ture ; and, though she is unfortunately poor, she has exhaustless wealth
in her own bosom, but under the hermetic seal of British policy.

In the reign of Eadhna the Second, mints were worked, and gold
and silver coined into money. The mint was erected at Ross, on the
banks of the Suir, in the county Waterford.

In the year 1639 of the Christian era, several pieces of these ancient
coins were discovered by countrymen at Gleandeloch, in the county
Wicklow, a parcel of which fell into the hands of Sir James Ware. The
antiquarians confess them to be of great antiquity, and drawings of
them had been made to prove it. All writers agree as to the very early
use of money in L'eland. The Irish coins engraved from by Ware have
on the face a human head, encircled with a cap or helmet ; on the re-
verse, a horse. The ancient Carthaginian coins had the same effigies.
We find, long before the Christian era, that they had bons, or pieces of
four pence; the scrubal, ov three pence; and the pinghin, or penny;
but larger pieces of money, though stamped by the king, were esti-
mated, as at this day in China, by weight only.

" Long before the birth of Christ, the Irish had stamped money ; and
their artists seem to have been as unrivalled in the fabrication of metals,
as they confessedly were in lignarian architecture and martial music." —
Bishop Nicholson.

" There can be no doubt of the early use of trade and money in Ire-
land, into which, it is probable, it was introduced as soon as it was fre-
quented by the Phoenicians. Before the reign of Echaidh the Fourth,
seven hundred and fifty years before Christ, the Irish made their pay-
ments of gold and silver in bars and ingots, with which their rich mines
supplied them." — Antiquities of PVales.

Many discoveries of ancient Irish coins have been made by the coun-
try people ; but the laws compelling them to render all treasures discov-
ered in the earth to the lords of the soil, they were frequently melted

252 PALACE OF EMANIA. QUEEN MACHA SEIZES THE MONARCHY.

down in secret by the finders, and sold in bars to the gold and silver
smiths. The imperial crown of Napoleon was made, in part, of a crown
belonging to the Irish monarch Brien Boroimhe, which was taken from
the Vatican, where it had lain as a valued relic since the time of Pope
Adrian, to whom it was presented by Donagh, the nephew of the hero
of Clontarf

About 460 B. C, Ciomhhaoth was peaceably proclaimed monarch
of Ireland, and has been gready celebrated for his prudence, his for-
titude, and his moderation. This ptince revived all the wise insti-
tutions of his great predecessor, Ollamh Fodhla. His queen, Macha,
founded the splendid and celebrated palace of Emania, or Eamuirania,
in the north, — next to Tara, the most magnificent public structure of
ancient Ireland. The remains of this superb palace could be traced,
near Armagh, in the days of O'Halloran, 1785. It was the scene of
many a brilliant fete in after ages, and the subject of many a bardic
epic. This splendid palace got its name from Macha, his queen. She
traced its area on a proper scale with the gold pin of her handkerchief.
From this it took its name ; for ea is Irish for pin, and niuir for necJc.

We are informed that this celebrated palace was finished in the
grandest style of architecture. The arched roofs were lined with pol-
ished marble brought from Italy, and the interior pillars, we are told,
were made of the same costly material, highly and beautifully carved ;
and the marble quarries of Kilkenny, the west of Ireland, and also the
north, furnished material enough to complete a rich and lasting architec-
tural structure.

When her husband died, leaving no male issue, Queen Macha was
called, upon to evacuate the royal palace of Tara, for the purpose of
inaugurating the rightful heir. By the laws of Ireland, no female was
allowed to sway the monarch's sceptre ; yet this courageous woman
entered the hall of the national convention, and boldly claimed the
diadem, as the widow and inheritrix of her husband. She addressed
the assembly with great energy, confounding the Druids, Brehons, and
Senators, by her extraordinary daring ; for the attempt was unprecedented
in the history of the country.

As soon as they informed her that she must surrender the throne to
the rightful claimant, she laconically replied, " He must then fight up to
his knees in blood before he can pluck the diadem of my fathers from
my brow." And, after uttering this threat, she hastened to the camp,
where a numerous and devoted army awaited her orders. She addressed
her brave soldiers in the language of passion, saying, — "You will

IRISH ARCHERY. ROBIN HOOD BEATEN BY AN IRISHMAN. 253

combat to-day under the command of a woman ; yet I shall prove to you
that I am worthy of leading Irish heroes, and that, in the woman heart
of your queen there is glowing the chivalric spirit of my Milesian
fathers."

She led forth her legions to battle. No forces which her enemies
could bring into the field availed them. All power melted before her
daring and irresistible course, and complete victory declared her in
possession of the sceptre. As in the days of Joan of Arc, of France,
whose followers mistook her courage for supernatural inspiration, and
conquered under the influence of its animating impulse, so this extra-
ordinary woman carried dismay into the ranks of her enemies wherever
she appeared.

In this battle the first notice occurs of archers; and we find, through
all subsequent stages of our history, that the Irish soldiers obtained great
renown for their expertness and skill in archery. No youth, however
noble, could be admitted into the Irish militia who could not pierce a
given object with an arrow at the distance of two hundred yards. The
science of archery can boast as high an antiquity in Ireland as among any
nation of earth. In several renowned battles in England and Scotland,
the Irish bowmen obtained the victory. When our Fingal, O'Neil, and
Dathy, delivered Caledonia from the yoke of Rome, their accomplished
archers were the terror of the Roman legions ; and, in subsequent
years, when the celebrated Robert Bruce made, in 1314, the un-
paralleled stand for his country against the arms of England, which
history celebrates and succeeding ages admire, O'Neil, his brother-in-
law, sent over a legion of Irish archers, which helped him to win.
Referring to this brilliant battle, Chaucer, the English poet, says, —

« To Albion Scotts we ne'er would yield ;
The Irish boAvmen won the field."

Spenser, another, who wrote in the reign of Elizabeth, 1597, (no friend
to Ireland,) extols the Irish archers for their discipline : " They certainly
do great execution with their short bows and little quivers, and their
short, bearded arrows are fearfully Scythian." Hollinshead, (English,)
in his Chronicles, says that the famous Robin Hood, the outlaw, fled to
Ireland in the reign of Richard the First, and that an Irishman named
Pat Lawler excelled him in feats of archery. " This trial of skill took
place," says Dr. Hanmer, "in Dublin, 1195. Robin shot an arrow
eleven score and seven yards, the distance from Old Bridge to St. Mi-
chael's church ; but Pat Lawler sent his arrow three yards farther."

254 RIGH DHEARG INVADES CALEDONIA. JUGHAINE INVADES GREECE.

B. C. 330. Righ Dhearg, or Reachta, succeeded the victorious
Queen Macha, and in his reign the Scottish Picts became troublesome
He transported a mighty army into Albany under the command of Terc
and Iboth, with which he effectually reduced them.

B. C. 310. Jughaine, called More, or the Great, having won the
crown in the field, was now enthroned monarch. He, too, passed over
to Albion, and reduced some rebellious spirits there. His deeds in the
field had reached the ears of Europe, and he passed over to the Gaulic
king's court, with a splendid retinue of knights and minstrels, and married
the fair Casaria, called the Lovely. When he returned to his kingdom
with his beautiful queen, he summoned the estates to a solemn convo-
cation at Tara. This was the grandest and most solemn assembly held
at Tara for two hundred years previously. It was surrounded by all
the pomp and circumstance which the king could devise ; and, the object
of his ambition being distant conquest, he raised the hopes and inflamed
the imaginations of his followers, and swore them to his interest by the
sun, moon, and stars, and by their favorite god Neptune. Thus ani-
mated, he led his legions towards the Mediterranean Sea, having first
appointed his wife queen regent of Ireland and Albany. His first land-
ing was on the Island of Sicily, which he conquered without resistance,
and subsequently passed over to Africa, to the aid of the Carthaginians,
who were then at war with Greece. It is said by Plutarch, that, on
this occasion, one of the Corinthian Greeks addressed the opposing
Carthaginians in terms of reproach for having applied for auxiliaries to
the Atlantic isle, beyond Hercules' Pillars ; that is, beyond the Straits
of Gibraltar ; for history admits that the Carthaginians procured legions
from Ireland to aid them in their wars against the Greeks and Romans.
The sacra cohors, or sacred cohorts, mentioned by Diodorus the Sicilian,
Cwtius, and others, were the Irish legions, Ireland having been then
as I have shown, named "sacred isle," and her armies " sacred cohorts."

Prince Jughaine was saluted " monarch of Ireland and Albany, and
of all the Western Isles of Europe," by his admiring allies in Gaul and
the countries within the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. If it were
not that the Romans, who imitated the Greeks in this custom, invariably
destroyed the records of the nations they conquered, obliterating their
languages and letters, and compelling them to speak and write in their
own. It is certain the Carthaginian records would have supplied us with
many testamentary facts connected with the military prowess of our
ancestors, who, being the descendants, were ever after, until Carthage
was destroyed, the firm allies of the Carthaginians.

JUGHAINE DIVIDES IRELAND INTO COUNTIES. MAON. 255

That the Carthaginians were a learned and most powerful people,
will not be disputed, and that the ancient Irish spoke the same language,
used the same weapons, and observed the same religious and social
customs and laws, and practised the same military discipline, prove that
an intimate connection subsisted between these two nations. It is con-
fidently affirmed that an Irish legion formed part of Hannibal's invad,ing
army, which crossed over the Alps into the plains of Italy, and ap-
proached towards the very gates of Rome, and would have then con-
quered the eternal city, had not the Carthaginian politicians betrayed
Hannibal, and abandoned him to his enemies, even in the midst of his
victorious career. In after ages, Irish swords were found in Italy, in
the very track of Hannibal's army !

The monarch Jughaine had twenty-five children, of whom twenty-two
were sons. He divided the kingdom into twenty-two parts, and set a
son to govern each district, from which taxes for the national exigencies
were derived. This system of taxation continued for three hundred
years. He reigned thirty years, but was inhumanly murdered by his
brother, who, however, was permitted to reign only a day and a half;
for the second son of the murdered prince rose up with a great force
against the usurper, ere he had time to sink the iniquitous roots of his
power in the earth. He was destroyed, and from one foul act many
more have flowed ; for the young and victorious Loaghaire the Second
excited enmity, which produced his own fall. He and his eldest son
were both murdered by aspirants for the diadem. A younger child of
this prince escaped the slaughter, and was sent by his friends to the
residence of the king of Munster.

Maon, the child thus sent to the hospitable palace of the king of
Munster, afterwards passed, for greater safety, over to the Gauls, amongst
whom he rose to the dignity and command of a general, signalizing
himself in all their wars. Whilst a youth in the palace of the king of
Munster, he prepossessed the daughter of that prince in his favor; and
she, faithful to his interest, when an opportunity arrived for the re-
sumption of his father's throne, sent a favorite bard to the court of the
French king, who sought the exiled prince, and sung to him a poem,
beautiful in conception and composition, urging his immediate return.
Maon was fired by the passion of love and glory ; he prevailed on the
French king to give him legions ; he returned, landed an army in
Wicklow, marched directly to the court of the usurper, and put him
and the chief men of his court to death. The circumstance is de-
scribed at length in my lecture on music, page 1 87, where, also, will

256 AONGUS THE SECOND AIDS THE CARTHAGINIANS.

be found the. ode composed by Moriat. This revolution is attested
by O'Halloran, Warner, M'Dermott, Lynch, and others.

About three hundred years before the Christian era, Aongus the
Second reigned as monarch of Ireland for eighteen years; during
which, says the " Book of Reigns," " he led his victori&us armies
against the Greeks, and was saluted as conqueror of Greece."

" When we compare this relation," says O'Halloran, " with the
accounts given us by Greek and Roman writers of the irruption of the
Gauls into Greece, and note how exactly the reign of Aongus accords
with the time of this remarkable invasion, we must, I apprehend, be
convinced that our annals deserve the highest credit."

The great fact stands out, in all these events, that the Irish were
not idle spectators of the wars that were kept up between the rival
nations of Carthage (Phoenicia) and Greece, or her eldest-born, Rome.
The Carthaginians obtained constant aid from the Irish monarch;
this is attested by Greek, Roman, and Irish historians, in numberless
instances. Seven princes reigned in succession after Aongus, over a
space of ninety years, during which period, nothing beyond the average
events occurred. At length we light on the reign of Aongus the
Third, who, like his predecessors, distinguished himself in those foreign
wars. We are told that, on his return covered with glory, he revelled
in excess, and violated the chastity of his daughter, by whom he had
a son : for this he obtained the name of Tuirmhedch, or the Shame-
ful, which proves that, even before the introduction of Christianity,
the ancient Irish were distinguished for their moral sensibilities — as
hio-h an argument as can be adduced in support of their refined
civilization.

To conceal this crime, the infant was put into an open boat, and
sent down the current of a river, to sink or swim, as it pleased the fates ;
but the child was found by fishermen, and, having been clothed in
purple, which denoted its royal origin, he was put to nurse, and
denominated Fear-mara, or the Sea-Man. And as, from this provi-
dentially-saved child, by the female side, a long line of monarchs have
descended, it may be proper to dwell a little upon his history.

When" preserved tlius by the interposition of the fates, and brought
back a man to the palace, his father, the king, granted him large pos-
sessions in Ulster ; and, as we shall see hereafter, many of his de-
scendants became kings of Munster, and some of them monarchs of
Ireland. These descendants became, in the progress of ages, kings
also of Scotland.

ORIGIN OF THE SCOTTISH KINGS. Q,UEEN MEIBHE. 257

" Froni the posterity of this prince, whose name, Fiacha Fearmara,"
says die English /'Fanier, " thus exposed to almost certain destruction,
either by famine or the waters, came the royal line of Scotland — the
progenitors, on the British side, of our present monarch." The families
of the O'Connors, O'Connells, M'Dermotts, O'Tooles, M'Loughlins,
O'Farrels, O'Dwyers, O'Ryans, and Murphies, are all descended from
tliis prince, and are the proudest names that illuminate the annals of
Ireland. From the same line was descended the O'Connors of Kerry
and Sligo. Roderick O'Connor was directly descended from Feargus
M'Roy, king of Ulster, by the famous Queen Meibhe.

Aongus was succeeded by Connall CGllam, and he again by
Seamhuin, and he by several other princes, whose warlike achieve-
ments are dwelt upon by the old writei^ with an enthusiasm which
shows that the men of the olden days delighted much in feats of arms.
I pass over a period of one hundred and sixty years, during which no
organic change took place, though several princes reigned.

Ireland was divided into five provinces by Eochaidth the Ninth,
about one hundred years before the nativity of our Redeemer, viz.,
Munster, Leinster, Connaught, Ulster, and Meath. Meath was fixed
on to be the domain of the reigning monarch, — as the District of
Columbia is the residence of the president of the United States. Meath
then comprehended an area of seventy square miles. It was divided,
in Henry the Eighth's time, into Meath and West Meath. Previous
to the reign of Eochaidth, the province of Connaught had con-
tinued to be governed by one of the princes of the Danaans, who
were the earliest settlers on the island. This prince, by considerable
address, and by proposing to remove the seat of legislation from Tara
to a more central spot in the island, or to the plains of Connaught,
obtained great popularity in that province. He built a splendid palace
in Cruighain, a part of Connaught celebrated for its great cave and
Druidical mysteries, and he called it Rath Eochaidth, or Eochaidth's
palace. He gave his daughter, Meibhe, to the Connaught prince in
marriage, and, he dying, this princess reigned alone, under the protection,
for a time, of her father ; and finally her administration secured her
the allegiance of the province, though her reign was contrary to the
national laws, which forbade a woman to sway the sceptre.

It appears this princess indulged in the enjoyment of an illicit
passion with Connor, the young prince of Ulster, by whom she had
three sons. Charles O'Connor thus notices their pedigree: "Rod-
erick O'Connor was directly descended from Feargus M'Roy, [son of
33

258 INSURRECTION OF THE BARDS. MODE OF BURIAL.

the king,] king of Ulster, by the famous Meiblie, queen of Connaught.
From this source also sprang the O'Connors of Corcomrve, as well as
those of Roscommon."

Her palace was one of great splendor, and was celebrated in the
days .of St. Patrick as one of the royal houses of Loaghaire. She
interfered in the discussion of the estates on the affairs of the nation,
and, in a speech remarkable for force and beauty, urged her followers
to battle in defence of their ancient rights. Some bloody battles were
fought between the Connaught and the Ulster knights. In these
battles, Queen Meibhe appeared in person, animating her soldiers, and
inspiring them to extraordinary deeds of valor.

This extraordinary woman was killed at the advanced age of one
hundred and ten, by a stone hurled from the sling of one of her Ulster
foes, while bathing, on a summer's moniing, in Loch Ribb. He had
practised with the sling for some time previous, in order to gain a cor-
rect aim.

About this time, the bards and literati had swelled to a very incon-
venient number, and their insolence and rapacity excited the indignant
hostility of the great body of the people. (On this topic see section on
the bards, pages 159, 160.) An insurrection having been generated
by their exactions and insolence, a great body ,of them fled to Ulster,
where they were received, and protected, and entertained, to the number
of one thousand, for seven years, by Connor, the prince of Ulster, and
the historian of the age. By the management and address of this
prince, he had the nurnber of the ollamhs, or doctors of learning, re-
duced, as in the days of Fodhla, to two hundred.

It was in those days that regulations for the interment of the dead
were first recorded. It was decreed that the head of the deceased
should be placed to the west, the feet to the east, and a leacht, or
monument of stone, raided over all. Some of the knights had graves
dug, — the bottom of smooth marble, the sides built with brick and
cement, in the form of a modern coffin, and so formed that, at top, a
• large stone exactly fitted it, and left no room for dust or worms to creep
in. In this the corpse was laid, with his armor on him, and his sword
by his side. Inscriptions were raised round the mouths of the coffins,
and the beauty of the letters proclaim, at this day, the skill of the
sculptors. Many such are to be seen at present, in several parts of
Ireland.

In the famous battle of Murthemne, on Cuchullin^s being mortally
wounded, he directs his charioteer " to carry him to yonder can-uig,
[a large stone placed on one end,] to place his body standing against it, his

SURGERY THE STUDY OF THE OLLAMHS. 259

sword in his hand, his shield raised up, and his two spears by his left
side." The renowned hero Eogon, slain in the battle of Lena, was
laid out completely armed in the same manner. The following trans-
lation from an Irish verse in the history of this battle shows Eogan : —

" Placed erect,
His lance by his shoulder,
His helmet on his head, his coat
Of mail on his body,
And his sword in his hand."

At the royal palace of Cruachan, in the county of Roscommon, in
Connaught, there was a celebrated cemetery, established for the re-
ception of the dead — a modern Westminster Abbey : it was called the
hill of graves. Here the kings and princes of the blood were buried.
Dathy was the last of the pagan monarchs buried there. In after ages,
golden shields, and golden crowns, and helmets, were found in this
place, also golden urns, and other precious evidences of the grandeur
of the past ages.

By several accounts of the battles of those times, we learn that
surgeiy was made the special study of some branches of the learned
professions, or ollamhs. But the practice of physic and surgery, like
other learned branches, in remote ages, was kept in certain families, and
transmitted to their descendants as hereditary rights. The military
surgeons were deemed the most skilful, and those belonging to the
royal militia the best of all. It was a common saying then, in refer-
ence to a person that was dying, or despaired of, that " all the phy-
sicians of the royal militia would not raise him."

Having arrived at that age in the history of Ireland when the feats
of chivalry became more intimately interwoven in the social and
political institutions of the people, this may be a proper place to
consider the origin and nature of practices that, in after ages, engrossed
so much of the mind of the most polished and learned people of
Europe. So extremely ancient have the institutions of chivalry been in
Ireland, that the most learned historians know not where to fix their
origin. Unfortunately for letters, the early histories of the Gauls and
Britons, and of every other nation subdued by the Romans, are lost.
The Romans proved themselves every where as much the enemies of
science and letters as of the liberties of mankind. In Selden^s
Titles of Honor, an English work of authority, it is settled that the
order of knighthood took not its rise in Rome.

260 INSTITUTIO?; OF KNIGHTHOOD IN IRELAND.

Ireland, however, having ever preserved her freedom from the
universal yoke of Rome, her history is plainly the only key to the laws
and customs of the ancient Celtae.

We find our ancestors, in Phoenicia and Egypt, attributed the first
civil reformation of the people to the curetes, or knights ; and curetes is,
to this day, the Irish name of a knight, and cure the French name
for a pastor. Caesar, in his Commentaries, describes the Gaulish
knights, and says they were the second order in the state ; and, as the
ancient Irish and Gauls were the allies of each other against the
common foe Rome, it is most natural to conclude that, from the constant
intercourse kept up between both people, the social, political, and
wariike customs of one nation would be adopted and practised by the
other. The order of knighthood was known in Ireland from the days
of Ollamh Fodhla ; for we find them a distinct class, taking part in
the legislative deliberations of Tara more than eight hundred years
before the Christian era. There were five equestrian orders in Ire-
land. The first was the Niagh Nase, or knights of the golden collar ;
and this order was peculiar to the blood royal, as without it no prince
could presume to become candidate for the monarchy.

In the fourth century of the Christian era, when EochaidtJi, king of

Leinster, seized the palace of Tara, previous to the election of the

monarch, the Druids, and doctors, and lawyers, remonstrated against

the iliegahty of the act, as he was unfitted to become even a candidate

for the throne, inasmuch as he had not yet received the gradth-gaiage,

or the order of chivalry ; upon which he relinquished his claim, and

surrendered the palace to Nial the Grand. Of the other orders, there

were the Curaithe na Craobh-Ruadth, or the red branch knights of

Ulster ; the Clana Deagha, or Munster knights ; the Leinster knights

were called Clana Baoisgne ; the knights of Connaught were of the

old Danaan race, and yielded not the palm in courage or discipline to

any heroes in Europe. Each of these classes of warriors had peculiar

" arms," or siu^ns, on their helmets and banners, that they might be

known on the field of battle by their friends. This was the origin of

heraldry, and orders of nobility, so much prized by the aristocracy of

Europe. The rank these knights held was very early settled, for they

preceded all orders in the state, except the ollamhs, or doctors in

different sciences, and the blood royal. By the law of colors already

explained, knights were allowed five colors in their clothes. In two

centuries nearer to us, they were allowed, by law, silver shields and

targets, and the privilege of fighting in chariots, which was previously

TRAINING OF THE KNIGHTS. 261

the privilege only of the blood royal, or of generals. In subsequent
reigns, it was decreed that the knights should wear a torquis, or
collar, of gold, pendulous from the neck. And this last, Straho and
Livy, the Roman historians, say, was constantly worn by the knights
of Gaul. Not only their rank was ascertained, but the utmost care was
taken of their education, and their military regulations.

Academies, at the national expense, were founded for them at Tara
in Meath, Emania in Armagh, Cashell in the south, Chruachan in
Connaught, and Naas in Leinster. These schools were like the military
school of West Point, or the military academies of France or England.
The candidates were entered at seven years of age, when slender
lances were put into their hands, and a sword by their sides. From
this to fourteen, they were instructed in letters and military discipline,
when they took their first vows. They were now exercised every day
in casting a javelin at a mark ; at which, in time, they became so
expert, that they could with certainty transfix an enemy, if within
their reach. The cran tubal, or sling, was another instrument with
which they hurled death around with wonderful precision. At the use
of the sword and target, they were uncommonly skilful, and they fought
on foot, on horseback, or in chariots, according to circumstances. At
eighteen, they took their last vows ; and, from the accounts of this
order of men still preserved, we are surprised at the elevation of their
sentiments. To swear by their knighthood was the most sacred oath,
for it reminded them of all their vows.

At the battle of Ventry, in Kerry, one of the knights in Fionas
array swore in the following translated words : " I affirm on my
word, and on the arms of chivalry " — an oath which no one of them
was ever known to break. At the battle of Murtheimhne, fought
before the incarnation, in the north of Ireland, when Cuchullin is ad-
vised by his officers against fighting the imperial army, he at length
cries out, " Since the days that my first arms were put into my hands,
[that is, since I received the order of knighthood,] I have not declined
a battle, nor shall I this." Their common saying was, Ish fear bleath
na seaghhail — " Glory is preferable to life."

Before the batde of Maigh-Lena, in the King's county, fought in
the second century of the Christian era, it was proposed, by some
officers of the imperial militia of Ireland, to attack and surprise the troops
of Munster at night ; to which Gaull, the son of Morni, general-in-
chief of the Connaught knights, thus replied : " On the day that I received

262 MILITARY RENOWN OF IRELAND ACKNOWLEDGED.

the honor of knighthood, I vowed never to attack an enemy at night,
by surprise, or under any kind of disadvantage ; " and accordingly this
noble commander refused to lead out his troops till the day had dawned.
The general mode of challenge between the Irish knights, in practice in
those ages, was this : In every military academy, before the great court,
a coat of mail and a shield were suspended under a handsome arch, to
denote them always ready for battle. At all public festivals, and par-
ticularly when the young knights took their last vows, numbers repaired
to the scene of action to witness the ceremony. Such foreign knights
as chose to enter the lists, struck the shield three times with their lances,
when each cried out, Sgreadaim sgiath and sarim compach — that is,
••' Strike the shield and demand the fight." Their names, quality, and
proofs of knighthood were then demanded, and the terms of the tourna-
ment adjusted.

Mr. O'Halloran goes into proof, at length, to show that the Gauls
and Romans borrowed their orders of knighthood and heraldry from the
Irish ; for the custom of obliging all candidates for the monarchy to
be knights of the highest military order, which we see adopted in the
tenth and twelfth centuries of Christianity throughout Europe, was
observed in Ireland previous to the Christian era. Our histories
of chivalry, yet well preserved, tell us that the knights of Ireland,
in very early days, frequently traversed the continent of Europe in
quest of adventure, where they gained glory and honor. And so cele-
brated were they in Europe, that they were called, by way of preemi-
nence, the heroes of the Western Isle. Harris says, "The French had
no regular body of men charged with the care of armories, processions,
and ceremonies, until A. D. 1031, when we find mention, in their chron-
icles, of Robert Daupin, as their first king at arms. In England, it does
not appear that any such officer as the herald was ever employed on
r;:issions by William the Conqueror, or either of his sons; and it was
lialf a century after the invasion of Ireland, that the office was introduced
among the English warriors, who, no doubt, tooJc their original idea of
it from the Irish princes J' Dr. Warner (English authority) says, " It
must be confessed that this was a period of great military renown in
Irish history; for here were three principal orders of knights at that time,
who were not only accounted the greatest men of the age by their own
provinces, but were so confessed by all the nations of the western "world.
We are told that their valor, their strength, and the largeness of their
stature, (being the picked men of the nation,) were the wonder of the

THE VALIANT CUCHDLLIN. 263

surrounding countries ; and that their exploits are not to be paralleled in
history." It was one of the principal customs of the ancient Irish to
train up their youth to a military life, that they might either defend their
country in times of distress, or carry the fame of their arms abroad."
Add to this what Llhuid, an old Welsh historian, has long since demon-
strated, viz., that the names of the principal commanders who opposed
Ctzsar in Britain are pure Irish, Latinized. Can we suppose that those
whom we saw so manfully assist the Carthaginians and Gauls, in their
struggles with the Romans, would remain idle spectators when the
Romans were approaching so near their own homes? Certainly not.
And I shall show, in the course of these lectures, that with the aid of
Irish legions, led by the great Irish heroes and generals, Nial and Dathy,
the Romans were finally driven out of England, in some four hundred
years later than the period I am now treating of. And the same
generals and Irish legions, or cohorts, chased the Roman force to the
very foot of the Alps. As the name of the valiant Cuchullin has
frequently appeared in the songs of our bards, I deem it appropriate to
insert here an account of the battle at which he fell, which was, unhap-
pily, between the native princes of Ireland, and grew from the claims
of the rival houses of Heber, Heremon, and Ir, to the chief government
of the nation. I take the account from Pepper, whose own soul seemed
to have imbibed the spirit of the heroes he so eloquently describes.

" The allied army encamped in Ardee, which was then called Baile
na Riog, or the 'Town of the Kings,' which is still its Irish appellation.
Here Fergus and the other chiefs wished to bring the Ultonians to
battle, and, with this intent, they raised fortifications on the banks of the
River Dee, a deep and rapid stream, that rises from a small lake in the
county of Meath, five miles north-west from Ardee, and, after passing
through that town and Dunleer, and receiving, in its course, the waters of
several tributary rivulets, falls into the sea at Annagassin, in the county
of Louth, at the distance of fifteen miles from its original source. The
rath, or mound, which the Connacians then erected adjoining Ardee, is
one of the most majestic, elevated, and extensive piles of earth and stone
in Ireland.

" Connor, in the mean time, made a vigorous preparation to oppose
the meditated attack of the approaching foe, and happily succeeded, by
his artifice and address, in appeasing the resentment of the hero Cuchul-
lin, and in persuading him to take the chief command of the Ultonian
army, then encamped at Dundalk. The very name of this chief of the
Craob-rogh, or the knights of the Red-wreath, was a ' tower of strength '

264 BATTLE OF MULL AC RE W.

to Connor's forces. Notwithstanding that Cuchullin could never forget
nor forgive the baseness and cruelty of the king of Ulster to his relatives,
he still was impelled to assume the command of the army, not only by
the desire of glory, but by the craving of revenge; for, in a former war
between the Connacians and Ultonians, Lugha, the champion of Mun-
ster, had killed his father. The Ultonian general had strict orders to
remain on the defensive at Dundealgan, (Dundalk,) until he should be
reenforced by a legion, under Connal Cearnach, that was daily expected
to return from an expedition to Britain. The Connacians, aware of their
numerical superiority, did every thing which artifice could suggest to
force Cuchullin to a battle. They abandoned their entrenched camp at
Ardee, and took up a position on an eminence at Muirthimme, (Mulla-
crew,) four miles northward of their former camp, and in the immediate
vicinity of Caislean na Calga, or Galga Castle, the patrimonial resi-
dence of the Ultonian general. This movement compelled Cuchullin
to extend the right wing of his army to a height now called Ard Patrick,
or the Hill of Patrick. The two armies approximated so close, that it
was impossible, in consequence, to avoid a battle. The Ultonian chief,
however, notwithstanding his fiery valor and impetuous courage, wished
to decline coming to action, until the arrival of his gallant colleague,
Connal. But Fergus and Lugha caused trumpeters to approach
Cuchullin's camp, in order to mock and deride them, and by this means
provoke him to join battle with them. These insults had the desired
effect ; for they irritated the brave hero of Ulster, who, impatient to
avenge them, issued the signal for the attack on the Connacian camp
At that moment, when his military passion reached the acme of enthu-
siasm, some of his officers endeavored to persuade him to postpone the
action for a day. He indignantly retorted, ' What ! are we to fear their
superior numbers? No! their defeat will be more glorious to the Ulster
arms. I to shrink, like a dastard, from the face of the vaunting foe ! O,
never ! Since my first arms were put into my hands, I have never de-
clined a battle, nor shall I this. If I am to fall under the spear of
Lugha, I shall fall like my heroic sire, covered with a warrior's glory,
and with a spotless fame, worthy of being embalmed in the song of
Erin's bards.' The onset was as dreadful as it was desperate ; resent-
ment and implacable rage burned in every breast, and rendered the
conflict of the belligerents sanguinary and fierce beyond any former ex-
ample on record. Cuchullin's war chariot, like the red thunderbolt
felling the trees of the forest, flew through an avenue studded by uplifted
battle-axes, and paved with dead bodies. To stop this fiery car of

DEATH OF CUCHULLIN. 265

carnage, which rolled through the Connacians as irresistible as the head-
long torrent of burning lava when sweeping down the rocky declivities
of -^tna, was an achievement that none except Lugha had the daring
courage to attempt The Munster champion bravely resolved to cross
his blood-flowing path, and arrest his destructive career, or nobly die in
the glorious attempt. Our ancient historians compared the collision of
the war-cars of Lugha and Cuchullin to that of two huge rocks of flame,
thrown in contact by a violent volcanic concussion. The combatants
fought with a force and a fury which astounded the contending armies.
It was a murderous conflict of two enraged giants, each of whom was at
once fired with the desire of vengeance and glory. After fighting from
noon to dusk with unexampled bravery and unshaken resolution, Lugha
succeeded in piercing the heart of the Ultonian champion with his jave-
lin. Thus fell the renowned champion of LTlster, a hero whose exploits
have been the theme of countless songs and stories of Irish and Scottish
writers."

266

MUSIC AND POETRY.

THE FOUR-LEAVED SHAMROCK.

BY LOVER.

A Four-leaved Shamrock is supposed to endue the finder with magic power-

ModerAto,

1. I'll seek a four-leaved shamrock In all th^ ^^^'^Y^

gs-

--r^

dells ; And if I find the charmed leaves, O,

~h w

"r7:

^=^E^^^I

how I'll weave my spells ! I would not waste my

iS)-

tir

TIL.

mag - ic might On diamond, pearl, or gold ; For

MUSIC AND POETRY.

267

1P=F

^=^

treasures tire the wea - ry sense ; Such triumph is but

'~\~

—V^'=^W-

±=d

^~S

^ = ^ j^

cold. But I would play th' enchanter's part, In

# ^ # ^

tfc

II"

~6 — h

^ ^

-n"^

Cjl2 1

-/ hi ■ a

r 1

m^b r-

~J ~S

w n

■ *

^ 1^

9 *

1 ^ 1^

cast ■

■ ing bliss

•

around :

not

tear,

nor

/Pi' 1 r II

(^ 17 I

«^ 1

'di

?=5-b-^

ach - ing heart, Should in the world be found, Should

268

MUSIC AND POETRY.

T~^ — ^^ 5 X

•
1

ri — r

-P^P— ^^f

/ b I J ^1

^^^

w ST"

U »U U l-l-

^U) ^ fl J-J .

-i^--

— »-

-r^i —

^^p-p^lf

in the world

be found.

1 1

■LnJ 1

0 »

« # V'

f^' I 1 '

r 1 1 1 ■ 1 i

^^ d -J

? •

*^_

1 1

b •• I

[

-^-j,- S- S h — ^

-» — »-

-S » f

To worth I would give honor;

I'd dry the mourner's tears ;
And, to the pallid lip, recall

The smile of happier years.
And hearts that had been long estranged,

And friends that had grown cold,
Should meet again, like parted streams,

And mingle as of old.
O, thus I'd play th' enchanter's part ;

Thus scatter bliss around ;
And not a tear, nor aching heart,

Should in the world be found, —
Should in the world, &;c.

The heart that had been mourning

O'er vanished dreams of love.
Should see them all returning,

Like Noah's faithful dove !
And Hope should launch her blessed bark

On Sorrow's dark'ning sea ;
And Misery's children have an ark,

And saved from sinking be.
O, thus I'd play th' enchanter's part ;

Thus scatter bliss around ;
And not a tear, nor aching heart.

Should in the world be found, —
Should in the world, &;c.

MUSIC AND POETRY.

269

:r.lr

O PATRICK, FLY FROM ME.

-t-4—

-«&'

:i=^-

~~\ I'
'n r

1. O Pat - rick, fly jQrom me, Or we are

"^"

-F

~Sf

^tt;

55=^-

'^^"

-# — #

j^:

13--^=:

lost for - ev - - er ! O Fortune, kind - er

-^'-

-(S'-

:J) I :

--P:

.^ C-

^zfc

be. Nor thus our true hearts sev -
» ^ » 1^' »'

-»■

:r5t

"s*-

~^~

:n^

tt-^

My mother scolds me o'er and o'er, With lessons

I I r:\

El±

=f=

"I r-

■270

MUSIC AND POETRY.

ir3^lZ^»

7-T

--P

cold and end - less ; It on - ly makes me love him

i=E

:r"

-^rF-f-rF-^

:p=:c=+_:t=p:

more, Be - cause he's poor and friend - less.

'^-fc

:pi:

^iri

"F"

And then to me my Patrick says,

'Tis true, he has not riches ;
But that love they little prize,

Whom gold so much bewitches.
He tells me — but, ah me ! I fear

Lest I from duty falter;
I wish he could as soon persuade

The mother as the daughter.
O Patrick, fly from me.

Or we are lost forever !
O Fortune, kinder be,

Nor thus our true hearts sever.

LECTURE VIII.

FROM THE BIRTH OF CHRIST TO A. D. 141.

Names and Titles of the forty-three Kings who reigned in Ireland during the six
hundred Years preceding the Birth of Christ. — Comparison with the Reigns of
sixty-four Roman Emperors ; with the Saxon Kings ; with the Scotch. — Char-
acter of the civil Wars among the Irish Chiefs. — Julius Csesar. — His Inva-
sion of Britain. — His Character of the ancient Britons. — Traffic of the Britons
carried on in Irish Ships. — Irish, Welsh, and British Druids meet in Mona's Isle. —
Agricola invades Britain. — Reigns of the Irish Monarchs. — Conaire. — Connor of
the red Eyebrows. — Criompthon. — His Invasion of Britain, and Victory over the
Romans. — Cairbre the Usurper. — Moran the Just. — Appointed chief Judge. —
Moran's Collar. — Moran's Purity. — Lord Norbury and other Judges unlike him.

— Tuathal. — Agricola, the Roman General, prosecutes the Conquest of Britain. —
Is met at the Grampian Hills by Irish Legions under Gealta Gooth. — Erection of
the Roman Wall by Adrian and Severus. — The Wall erected to keep out the
Irish and Picts. — Customs and Games of the Irish. — Baal Fires. — Brilliant Fetes
of the Monarch Tuathal. — Horse Racing. — Charioteering. — Marriages. — Feats
of the Knights. — Marriage Ceremonies. — Amphitheatres in Meath. — Archi-
tecture of the Ancient Irish. — Appeal to Irishmen on the Education of their Chil-
dren. — History of Ireland forms no Part of modern School Study. — Comparison
between Irish and Roman Customs. — Roman Exercises. — Scipio's Feats. — Ex-
hibition of Beasts fighting. — Claudian's Description of the Beasts. — The Circus. —
Sea Monsters introduced. — The Gladiators. — Female Gladiators. — Knights and
free Citizens become Gladiators. — The Senators and Patricians become Gladiators.

— Ladies enter the Circus to fight each other, and to fight with the Beasts. — Roman
Gentry traded in the Virtue of their Wives. — Dreadful Ferocity of the Roman
People. — Shed Rivers of Blood in opposing Christianity. — Ridiculous Superstitions
of the Romans. — The History of Rome is given to our Youth, and that of Ireland
excluded. — The splendid Reign of Tuathal continued. — Provincial Assemblies.

— Regulations to encourage Arts and Manufactures. — Commerce of ancient Ire-
land very considerable. — Tuathal's Address to the National Assembly. — Great
Expedition against the Romans, under Gealta Gooth. — Defeats them in two
pitched Battles. — Pauses in Obedience to Instructions from the King and Parlia-
ment.— Marriage and tragic Death of Tuathal's two Daughters. — The Monarch
marks out Leinster for Destruction. — Origin of the Leinster Tribute. — A Re-
volt, and Death of Tuathal. — Flight of his Son to the Picts. — His Return and
Victory over the Usurper

Having presented to the reader the principal events of Irish history for
a period of six hundred years, since I took up the chain at the death of
Ollamh, onoitting many vivid accounts of battles, court intrigues, love
affairs, which are so like each other, and so little instructive, that I ex-
pect to be pardoned for dashing on rapidly over centuries, merely noting
the chief organic changes, and characteristic acts of the several ages
through which I pass ; 1 now give a catalogue of the kings, whose
principal deeds I have noticed in the preceding pages, who succeeded

272 CHARACTER OF THE CIVIL WARS AMONG THE IRISH CHIEFS.

Lughaidh, from six hundred years before Christ to the fifth year
of the Christian era, viz. : Siorlaimh, Eochaidh V., Eochaidh VI.,
Conning, Art II., Fiaclia, Olioll, Airgeadmhcr, Eochaidh VIL,
Lughaidh III., Aodh-Diihorba, Ciombaoith, Q^ueen Macha, Reachta,
or Righ Dherg, Jughaine the Great, Laoghaire II., Mahon, Meilge,
Modh Chorb, Aongiis II., Jarero, Fearchorb, Conla, Olioll III,
Adamar, Eochaidh VIII, Feargus, Aongus III, Connall, Niadh,
Eanda, Criomthean, Ruighruidhe, Jonadhbhur, Breasal, Lughaidh
IV., Duach, Fiachtna, Eochaidh IX., Eochaidh X., Eidersgeoill,
Nuadhneacht ; forty-three kings, from the reign of Lughaidh II., six hun-
dred years before the Christian era, to the fifth year of Christianity,
which gives an average reign of thirteen and a half years to each.
From that period to the invasion of Tergesius the Dane, there reigned
sixty-one kings, in a space of seven hundred and thirty-eight years,
which gives an average of twelve years to each. When this evidence
of the civilization of Ireland for that period is weighed, — when it is
balanced against the history of five hundred years of Rome, during
the full time of the empire, — it will then be seen to which of those
people the palm of approbation ought to be adjudged. From the
time of Julius Caesar to that of Augustulus, anno 475, about five
hundred years, there reigned sixty-four emperors over Rome. Their
reigns averaged but eight years for each. Forty-six of these emperors
were monsters of crime and vice ; thirty-three of them were murdered ;
seven were assassinated or poisoned, one strangled ; two fell by their
own hands ; one was burnt, and one was drowned ; and nineteen
only died natural deaths.

If we turn our eyes to England, we will find that twenty-eight kings
of the Saxon heptarchy were murdered in a period of three hundred and
fifty years. Robertson says of the Scotch kings and nobles, they were
revengeful. Of six successive princes, from Robert the Third to James
the Sixth, not one died a natural death. The wars and kingly murders
that grew from the English factions of the white and red roses, only three
or four centuries past, are sufficiently bloody and treacherous to keep
the tongues of Englishmen quiet on topics like these.

It is unfortunately true that the warlike propensities of the Irish led
them into hostile conflicts with each other, when the more exciting enter-
prise of foreign wars did not call their princes from their own country.
Taught, from youth upwards, to esteem personal bravery and military
exploit as the very climax of human excellence, they resented insults,
and settled disputes about territory, on the field of combat. Still, in

THE CHAIN OF SILENCE. 273

those deplorable conflicts, a code of laws was observed by the most
deadly opponents, which proved how sensibly alive they must have
been to that principle of human action called honor, whose root is justice,
and whose nourishing fluid is tenderness and exalted human feeling.
In the hottest period of battle, if the attending bards or heralds, on
either side, shook the *' chain of silence," there was an instantaneous
suspension of the war, and the voice of negotiation was listened to.
The combatants were frequently induced to retire to their respective
homes by the songs of bards, and seldom or never have they been
known to take unfair advantage of each other. Those internal battles,
however, were most generally maintained with terrible resolution on
both sides. The idea of retreating never entered into the heads of any
party. The absorbing, impelling sentiment that enwrapped the nation,
directed them to die on the field or conquer their opponents. The
princes who instigated and led those warrior legions to the field, deemed
it so great a disgrace to survive the loss of a vital or pitched battle, that,
when they saw, towards the conclusion, their hopes and soldiers die
away, they invariably plunged into the thickest of the contest, and fell
fighting by the sides of the remnant of their followers. The whole his-
tory of Ireland presents but one exception to this general practice — that
of Malachy II., anno 1010, who survived the loss of his diadem. Had
Napoleon died, with his sword in hand, resisting his enemies at the gates
of Paris, instead of on the rock of St. Helena, how much more brilliant
would his fame have shone in the eyes of the military world than
it now does! — As to the political equity of Napoleon, I hold an
opinion on it different from those who cry him up a genuine lover and
distributor of human liberty, which shall be expressed in its place.

With all their faults, the ancient Irish strictly revered the most sacred
laws of honor. Contests were frequently decided by the single combat
of the contending princes, who put their claims upon the issue of their
personal bravery and skill, whilst the contending armies on either side
paused in their work of death, and gazed upon the vital combat of their
respective chiefs. Great was the glory of the victor. Frequently a
diadem and a principality awaited his triumph. The opposing armies
joined together, forgot their former feuds, and mutually partook of hos-
pitality, whilst the processions of the victor to his palace, whether main-
tained or acquired on the field of honor, were swelled by his former
enemies as well as friends, and were attended by a pomp and circum-
stance to which modern days afford no parallel.

On this feature in their character, the eloquent Phillips has founded the
35

274 JULIUS Cesar's invasion of Britain.

following stanza in his beautiful song of " Cushlamachree," which is
printed, with the music, in the beginning of this work: —

" Thy sons they are brave ; but, the battle once over,
In brotherly love with their foes they agree."

We have now arrived at that era in tlie world's history marked by
the birth of a Savior. Rome had risen to the meridian of her power.
Julius C(zsar, as her general, had conquered more than half the then
known world. He had subjected many of the civilized and barbarous
nations of the earth to his sway, and compelled them to pay tribute to
the Roman aristocracy. After his conquest of Gaul, Spain, Africa,
Egypt, Pontus, and some other states of lesser note, he had carried
before him, in his triumphal procession into Rome, vessels of gold and
silver, computed by modern authors to be worth tivelve millions pounds
sterling, or sixty millions of dollars, — together with eighteen hundred
and twenty-two golden diadems, weighing fifteen thousand and twenty-
three pounds weight. All these were put into the Roman treasury, as
spoils to the republic, independent of the booty he brought home for
himself. In addition to all these, the profusion of jewels, paintings,
and other rich and valuable curiosities, swelled his spoils to an in-
credible amount.

Elated with this success, he sought the shores of Britain, to add it
to his conquests. According to his own account, he landed on the
shores of Britain, near Dover, on the 26th of August, fifty-five years
before the birth of Christ. He soon overcame the feeble resistance of
scattered and undisciplined tribes. He describes the inhabitants as
divided into forty tribes, each living in a state of independence of the
other. Those in the southern parts, ^vho appeared to be emigrants from
Belgic Gaul, were the most civilized. They had made some progress
in agriculture and the arts of life. The rest maintained themselves by
pasture, were clothed with the skins of beasts, painted their bodies, and
were constantly shifting their habitations, either in search of food or to
annoy or avoid their enemies. They had no other laws than the will
of their chiefs.

Caesar returned to the continent after establishing a temporary govern-
ment in Britain, in the name of Rome ; but was obliged to go back the
next year to quell the insurrections of the northern Picts. In this he
succeeded, having landed, from a fleet of eight hundred ships, an im-
mense army, with which he overran a great portion of Britain. But the
foot of a hostile Roman soldier never polluted Ireland, and subsequent

IRISH, WELSH, AND BRITISH DRUIDS MEET IN WALES. 275

events, well attested by Roman and English history, will tell the rea-
son why.

On Caesar's return, he sent over lawgivers to England, and pursued,
as did succeeding governors, a conciliatory policy. The laws of Rome
were partly adopted in the south of Britain, +>ut rejected towards the
north. The only thing the Britons, at this time, shipped to other coun-
tries, according to Caesar, was tin, which, it appears, the Phoenicians
obtained from the British mines in Cornwall ; but as the Britons, ac-
cording to Tacitus, had no ships at this time, this traffic was carried on
in Irish vessels — an important admission, which is made by the Roman
historian in his Life of Agricola. Britain remained in this condition for
ninety years, during which no Roman general approached the country.
In the forty-sixth year of the Christian era, Platius, a Roman general,
landed in Kent, and advanced to the Thames, which he passed, and
fought three great battles with the Britons, whom he defeated near
Oxfordshire. In five years afterwards, the Roman general Pauli-
nus arrived in Britain, and found, that in Mono's Isle, now called
the Isle of Anglesey, (separated from the main land in Wales merely
by a river, over which the greatest suspension bridge in the world now
hangs, namely, the Menai bridge,) was congregated an immense num-
ber of Irish knights, Britons, Welsh, Druids, and bards, who opposed
his progress. In this isle there was established a sacred seat of
Druidism, to which the Druids of Ireland used to repair to mingle
their peculiar ceremonies with those of their brethren of Wales and
other parts of Britain.

The Roman general met with great resistance here, and he bent
his whole force to the destruction of the religious and military congre-
gations on the island. It was here the Irish allies were accustomed
to land from Wexford. The Roman general laid siege to this place,
and finally destroyed the fortifications, together with the Druidical
altars, and then erected a fort of great strength, leaving behind him
a strong garrison, to drive off auxiliaries who might approach from
Ireland,

In twenty years afterwards, we find Julius Agricola, the Roman
general, employed in retaking Mona's Island, which proves that this was
the battle-ground between the Irish allies of Britain and the Roman
legions.

Returning to my narrative of Ireland, we find Conaire, in the first
years of the Christian era, monarch of Ireland. He belonged to the
family fi-om which the Dalriada of Scotland descended, and fix)m whom

276 CONATRE. CONNOR. CRIOMTHON CAIRS.

her present majesty, by the female side, claims lineage. The first act
of Conaire's reign was an unexampled punishment on the people of
Leinster for the murder of his father. He ordered that every first of
November, three hundred swords mounted with gold, three hundred
cows, three hundred purple cloaks, and three hundred steeds, should be
delivered at his palace as an eric from that province, for the crime. He
reigned forty years, some historians assert it to be sixty years; but
during his reign the people enjoyed a perfect state of happiness. He
was succeeded by Connor of the Red Eyebrows, and he again by Cri-
ompthon, who penetrated Britain with a victorious army, harassing the
Roman forces, destroying their fortifications, and carrying home quanti-
ties of warUke spoils. Criompthon died suddenly by a fall from his
horse.

A. D. 41. On the death of this prince, he was succeeded by Cairhrey
the usurper, a prince of the Danaan line, from Connaugbt. Cairbre
possessed shinh)g abilities, as well as cunning and treachery. His remote
ancestors were amongst the very first chiefs of the tribes who settled m
Ireland, and his family, through a long course of ages, mourned the pre-
dominance of the Milesian race in the government. Cairbre, seeming^
to possess this feeling to an uncontrollable degree, conceived the daring
resolution of seizing upon the sceptre by a treacherous effort. To carry?
this resolve into effect, he negotiated with, and secured the alliance of.,
some British Belgte and Gauls, to act with the forces which his own
province of Connaught afforded. He prepared for a favorable oppor-
tunity to attack the constituted authorities. It was in that moment wherv
the throne of Ireland had become vacant by the death of the beloved
Criompthon.. when the princes and nobles of the kingdom had assem.bled-
at Tara for the purpose of ehicting a successor to the crown. The
festive entertainments which custom had ordained, were being enjoyed-
These electoral entertainments generally continued three days. Cairbre
watched the hour of unsuspecting hilarity for his attack. Late in the
night, when the princes and other authorities in the palace of Tara were
stultified with wine, and relaxed with enjoyment, he and his troops, who
approached by secret marches, roshed upon the devoted guests, and
slaughtered all they could reach, without distinction or mercy. The
sanguinary Cairbre was then proclaimed king by his soldiery, who com-
pelled the terrified arch-Druid to inaugurate him as monarch, on the
Stone of Destiny, with the accustomed solemnity. For five years, the full
duration of his reign,, he acted towards the nation with singular mildness
and justice, and his son Moran, the celebrated lawgiver and judge.

MORAN APPOINTED CHIEF JUDGE. HIS COLLAR. 277

won the general affections of the people by his talents and unexampled
equity.

On the death of Cairbre, the usurper, Moran, the heir apparent, was
proclaimed monarch of Ireland, with the usual ceremonies ; but when a
deputation of the national assembly waited on him with the crown, this
great man declined to assume it, giving his reasons in the following
memorable words : —

" I never shall wear that crown, to which 1 have no just right, except
what I might derive from the violence that placed it on my father's
brow. Do you conceive Moran so ignoble as to accept the power
which is based on such dishonorable claims ? No, legislators ! You
wrong me when you suppose that injustice should be the foundation of
my personal aggrandizement. If my own honest merits cannot secure
me the applause of posterity, let my deeds rest i-n darkness, in oblivion."

Feardhaih, of the old Milesian line, was therefore called (anno 46) to
the throne, and to him all parties in the state swore allegiance. Moban
was appointed chief judge of all matters in the kingdom ; and, from his
extraordinary wisdom and integrity, his name has passed down to us
as a model for judges in- all succeeding ages. The prince and the
judge were worthy of each other, and, by their wisdom and equity,
produced in the kingdom the most perfect state of social happi-
ness. So great was the reputation of Moran for wisdom and justice,
that the golden collar he wore round his neck was worn by all his
successors ; and so wonderful were the powers attributed to it, that the
people were taught to believe that whoever gave a wrong decree with
this collar round his neck, was sure to be compressed by it in proportion
to his deviation from the line of truth ; but when the judgment given
was just, it would hang loose and easy. The common people, even to
this day, swear dar-an-joadh-Mhoran, i. e. " by the collar of Moran,"
which is deemed a most solemn asseveration.

With the exception of Sir Thomas More, lord chancellor of Eng-
land, in the reign of Henry the Eighth, who, according to Sir James
Mackintosh, was the purest judge that appeared in England for a thou-
sand years, we have no judge, in England or Ireland, that won such
universal approbation and respect as Judge Moran, until we come to
our own days, and light on the person of the lamented Sir Michael
O'Loughlin, the late Irish master of the rolls, — one who came from
a line of ancestors known in Ireland a thousand years ago.

Dr. Warner, the English historian, says of Chief Justice Moran,
" There is not in all history, as I remember, another instance of a

273 IRISH LEGIONS OPPOSE THE ROMANS.

revolution like this, brought about by the self-denial and strength of a
single man, called to the exercise of royal power through the wicked-
ness and perfidy of his own father, divesting himself of this power, and
disarming a giddy multitude, in order to establish the public tranquillity,
and set the lawful heir ujx)n the throne. Indeed, ancient or modern
hdstory affords no parallel of mch self-denial, if we except the single
instance of Lycurgus, the famous Spartan lawgiver, who, though
called by general consent to the throne, on the death of his brother,
no sooner heard that liis sister-in-law was pregnant, than he abdicated
the regal sway, and assumed merely the regency of the state."

Such, descendants of the Irish £ace, was Judge Moran ; one who
elevates your nation on the score of judicial equity to an equality with
the proudest and most polished on the earth. It was much regretted,
in the days of Lord Norbury, that Moran's collar could not be found
10 place about his neck, for it would have choked him long ere he
condemned so many brave men to the block ; and it would be cred-
itable to justice, if a distmguished functionary, who figured lately in
certain " state trials," had had this collar round his neck while charging
the jury.

Anno 69,. Fiachadh was proclaimed monarch of Ireland. In the
same year, Vespasian was proclaimed emperor of Rome. Fiachadh
pcuired forces into North Britain, and continued to resist the Roman
power there. In those batdes, the celebrated Gealta Gooth, (the
GaJgacus of Tacitus,) an Irish chieftain of those days, led over the
Irish legions against the Romans, who were then sweeping the plains
o!' Britain ; but internal division, which, at that time, grew up amongst
the chiefs and princes of Ireland, absorbed the national spirit, and kept
back the supplies ; otherwise the Roman arms might have been
stemmed much sooner and much more effectually than they were.

Anno 86, we find Fiachadh slain in battle, and succeeded by
Elim, who, however, was not suffered to enjoy his powers long. He
was opposed by Tuathal, the son of the preceding monarch. Tuat-
hal gathered home some of the Irish legions from North Britain, with
which he attacked Elim, and, in eighty-five batdes. won his way to the
throne. Though he waded through much blood in his way to power,
yet his reign was otherwise just, wise, and glorious. His first public
act was a convention of the estates of Tara. Before this assembly he
appeared in his place as monarch and president of their councils. He
addressed them with great eloquence, pointed out the danger of divisions,
and of the pretensions of so many families whose blood entitled them to

adman's wars in BRITAIN. THE ROMAN WALL. 279

the throne, and besought them, as they valued their safety and dreaded
the power of Rome, to pass an act hmiting the chief monarchy to
the male issue of one house. To this they agreed, and they swore
fealty to the house of Heremon.

This prince revived all the wise institutions of Ollamh Fodhla.
More lands were appropriated by the estates, or parliament, to the
support of the crown and the interests of literature, and to enable the
prince to support his dignity with greater splendor. These lands were
called fearon buird righ Erion, or the raensal lands of the monarch
cf Ireland. The great Ollamh Fodhla, having conferred on the
University of Tara the power of granting the highest degrees in
literature and science, King Tuathal followed up the idea, and con-
ferred privileges and powei-s on the Tara University, endowing it liber-
ally with revenues.

A little while ago, I brought forward a view of the invading armies
of Rome, penetrating Britain, attacking Mona's Island, which was then
a point of great consequence, as the rendezvous of the allies of the
Britons.

In the intestine struggles of Ireland, in the last and preceding reigns,
a portion of the Irish forces were withdrawn from the Isle of Anglesey.
Agricola had, therefore, the easier conquest of that important military
post. And, though little or no defence had been made, yet Tacitus
asserts, that, by its capture, Agricola got the name of a " most con-
summate general." Having obtained this important post, he swept
the plains of Britain before him from the south, and was repulsed only
on the gathering together of a sufficient force of Irish allies on the
Grampian Hills, under Gealta Gooih, the Irish general. Here a
desperate resistance was offered to the overwhelming legions of Rome,
by the combined arms of the Irish cohorts, Picts, and North Britons ;
but, though Tacitus claims the victory of the day for his father-in-
law, Agricola, yet it is quite certain that the Romans never penetrated
farther. Indeed Agricola contented himself with erecting a chain of
forts from the Clyde to Galway Frith, which divided Britain from
Scotia Minor. In twenty years farther on, we find the Roman
emperor, Adrian, obliged to come into Britain, to defend their
possessions, which defence ended in his building a wall from Sol-
way Frith across to the mouth of the Tyne. Again, Severus has,
farther on, to fight for his existence against the combined forces of the
Picts and Irish ; and we may form some idea of the strength of his
legions, when we learn that fifty thousand of them died of an epidemic,

280 BAAL FIRES. CUSTOMS OF THE IRISH.

near York, in England, whilst prosecuting his defence of the Roman
conquests.

Severus, in the year 200 of the Christian era, builds the famous
wall of stone along the line of Adrian's wall of clay, which divided
England from Scotland. -Its height was twelve feet, its breadth, at the
foundation, was nine feet, and its length sixty miles. In front was a
ditch eleven feet broad. And here was high and haughty Rome, com-
pelled, by the valor of the Milesian race, to pause, and draw a limit
westward to her all-conquering power. This wall yet remains
above the earth, a stupendous monument, not of Roman greatness,
but of Irish valor — a sort of memorial to teli the world that such a race
was never destined by Heaven for slavery.

Here may be the best place to view the customs, games, and amuse-
ments, of the ancient Irish, and to make a comparison between their
character and that of the Romans during parallel ages. I have al-
ready shown that the Irish worshipped Baal, or the sun, as the great
author of nature, of heaven, and earth. It was the custom, on the
eves of May and November, for the Druidical priests to light up holy
or worship-fires, in honor of the sun, throughout the kingdom, when
all other fires were extinguished, and not rekindled but by a torch from
the chief fire of the Druids. This chief or primary fire was, by Tu-
athaJ, ordered to be lighted only in Tara, where it was surrounded
with the utmost degree of splendor and ceremony. The fire was
lighted in a shady grove, when the king, queen, princes, Druids, bards,
chiefs, knights, and the multitude, were present. When the ceremony
was completed, portions of this holy fire were then given to the first
orders, from whose fires the otiiers took torches, and so on the fires of
the whole kingdom were lighted up. Although, at this time, we may
smile at the simplicity of this custom, yet, in those days, it had a con-
siderable influence on the people. And so difficult it is to subdue a
popular custom, that, even in our days, the first of May is ushered in by
the young and gay with extraordinary excitement, though the original
cause for the custom is unknown to probably nine hundred in every
thousand.

The object of the monarch Tuathal was to conduct the government
of the country in a way agreeable to the taste and feelings of the
people. In order to make the meetings of the gentry and chiefs more
frequent, and to attach them to his person, he revived the festive meet-
ings on the plains of Louth with uncommon splendor. Here he erected
a superb pile of architecture, where he revived the great fair, to which

MARRIAGES. IRISH ARCHITECTURE. 281

all the trading people of the kingdom repaired. It commenced fourteen
days before the first of August, and continued fourteen days after. The
amusements of horse-racing, charioteering, feats of arms and dexterity
by the knights, took place at this national gathering. Temporary
amphitheatres of wood were raised for the accommodation of many
thousand persons ; and the ladies were, of course, assigned the best and
most conspicuous places at these public entertainments. At these meet-
ings, marriages and alliances were formed between the families of the
chiefs, gentry, and distinguished orders, and every method was studied
to promote exhilarating exercise, and refined and modest enjoyment.

So intent was Tuathal on raising the morals of his people to the
highest pitch of virtuous refinement, that, to promote connubial al-
liances, he offered prizes to such young men as selected their wives at
this great meeting. Here rival knights contended, at tilts and dexterous
feats of grace and agility, for the ladies of their love ; and poets sang,
and rustics wresded, to win the smiles and approbation of the fair.

The learned O'Flaherty says of these games and amusements, that
the strictest order and most becoming demeanor were observed through-
out : the men were placed by themselves ; the ladies had a separate
place assigned them in the capacious amphitheatres of oak erected for
the occasion, where their parents were present, and treated about their
nuptials. As soon as the match was settled, the happy youth presented
a garland of roses to the elected object of his choice, and then led her
forth to the Druid's altar, where the nuptial ceremony was solemnly
performed by the .ministering Druid. We are told, that this prince
erected on the site of these festive games a Druidlcal cave In the
earth. The ruins of this celebrated pagan abode are yet to be seen,
and, say the learned Bcauford and the Welsh antiquarian Llhyuide,
who visited the ruins, " they equal any time-honored remnant of ancient
architecture, which a Palmyra or Babylon could boast." The learned
Camden and Raymond, both English writers, say the same, one
of whom describes this celebrated cave " as elegantly vaulted, with
polished marble slabs, indented into each other — Is eighty feet long, with
a marble paved floor, and walls encrusted with the same material."
There are bass-relief and hieroglyphic Inscriptions on some of the
panels, boldly sculptured. And Beauford continues his remarks in the
following words : " It Is a ridiculous assumption In some English
writers, who, to gratiiy their prejudices, maintain that the ancient Irish
were not eminent in architecture before the English Invasion. The
round towers and antique cathedrals of Cashell, Clonard, Armagh,
36

282 SHIP-BUILDING. EDUCATION OF IRISH CHILDREN.

Ardfeit, and many others, with hundreds of old abbeys and innumer-
able Druidical altars and caves, are testimonials in favor of the taste,
the architecture, and the genius, of the ancient Irish."

Bede has honorably admitted that to Ireland his country was in-
debted for their naval and mural architecture. William Rufus sent
into Ireland for the oak that built Westminster Abbey, over which it
yet presides, a grand and solemn witness of its superiority over the oak
©f England. " King Alfred, who had been exiled in Ireland, on
regaining possession of his kingdom, invited over Irish ship-builders,
who constructed for him a large fleet. Some of the vessels thea
built had seventy-six oars, and were generally navigated by sixty or
seventy sailors." — DundeVs Inquiry into the Rise and Progress
of the British Navy, London edition, 1799.

Gildas, who wrote A. D. 560, says, " The Hibernians had large
ships for the purposes of war, but that, in carrying on trade, they con-
veyed their commodities over a sea rough and tempestuous in wicker
boats, encompassed with a swelling covering of ox-hides ; " these were
called Curraghs, and were noticed by Tacitus five hundred years
before Gildas wrote. Gildas himself, was educated in Ireland.

We are now considering the period ranging In the first century of
the Christian era, three hundred and fifty years before Ireland was yet
blessed generally with the light of Christianity.

I have opened to you a view of the rational, healthful, modest, and
graceful amusements practised by your ancestors — at least the' ancestors
of the Irish — even before the refining influence of Christian precept had
added a polish and a lustre to their character. You, children of this
brave, chivalrous, modest, and virtuous race ! to you I now address
myself. You send your youth to the schools which a liberal go\ern-
ment has provided for their instruction ; and they are directed to drink
their first draughts of knowledge froiu tiie fountains of Greece, Rome^
and England, whilst the country of their ancestors, containing all that is
brave, beautiful, grand, learned, pious, modest, and virtuous, is totally
neglected. Not even is there a history of that glorious country on your
school tables. The history of the oppressor of your race is that which
corrupt fashion and impure and degenerate taste direct you to peruse;
whilst the wisdom of those neglected sages, saints, and heroes, of your
own country is cast off, — that country, that opened its doors to the per-
secuted missionaries of literature, when the hurricane of human passion,
which swept over Europe in the middle ages would, but for your

AMUSEMENTS OF THE ROMANS. 283

sainted ancestors, have extinguished every vestige of Greek, or Roman,
or ancient literature.

But come now, let us examine the lessons which your youth are
directed to study in the senate, in the field, and in the theatre, of the
Romans, which are pretended to be so far beyond the models for study
which your own neglected ancestors have left you. I have shown you
the innocent, the modest, the graceful, the elegant amusements of your
calumniated ancestors, on the plains of Louth, and in the palaces of
Tara.

Let us now take a glance at the public amusements of the Romans,
previous and sulasequent to the same period, whilst both people were
under the influence of Druidical or pagan worship. The feats of
exercise which these heroes performed, consisted chiefly of running,
leaping, swimming, throwing a stone or a javelin, or running against a
horse across a plain.

It is thus the famous Scipio is described, in a grand gathering of the
Roman people, by Italicus, as translated by Dryden : —

" Among the rest the noble chief came forth,
And showed glad omens of his future worth.
High o'er his head, admired by all the brave,
He brandished in the air his threatening stave ;
Or leaped the ditch, or swam the spacious moat,
Heavy with arms and his embroidered coat
Now fiery steeds, though spurred with fury on,
On foot he challenged, and on foot outrun ;
While 'cross tlie plain he shaped his airy course,
Flew to the goal, and shamed the generous horse.
Now ponderous stones, well poised with both his hands,
Above tlie wondering crowd unmoved he sends;
Now 'cross the camp he aims his ashen spear.
Which, o'er ten thousand heads, flies singing in the air."

Such were the extolled exercises of Scipio, one of their greatest
heroes. And there is nothing in the boasted feats that an Irish
hero of the same age would not accomplish ; and we could get
a thousand Irish boys, of the present age, to beat Scipio hollow, at
leaping ditches, throwing stones, or running against the swiftest horse.
So much for some of the ivonderful feats of these great models which
we are to follow. Let us go farther into their delicate, polished, ele-
gant, amusements. It was the custom of the Roman people to have
periodical combats with wild beasts, got up for their amusement. The
animals v/ere brought from the most distant countries for their gratifica-

234 THE GLADIATORS.

tion. There were three sorts of diversions with the beasts, all which
Vv'ent under the description venatio. The first order of the amusement
was when the people were permitted to run after the beasts, and catch
what they could for their own use ; the second order, when the beasts
fought with one another ; and the last, when they were brought out to
engage with men.

Claudian, their own poet, thus describes the animals that were
collected to gratify, by their presence and their feats in the ring, the
elegant Roman patricians : —

" All that witli potent teeth command the plain,
All that run horrid with erected mane,
Or proud of stately horns, or bristling hair, —
At once tlie forest's ornament and fear, —
Torn from the deserts by the Roman power.
Nor strength can save, nor craggy dens secure."

The middle part of the circus was set all over with trees, removed
thither by main force, and fastened to huge planks, which were laid on
the ground. These, being covered with earth and turf, represented a
natural forest, into which the beasts were let, from a cave, or dens under
ground. The people, at a sign given by the emperor, fell to hunting
and combating them, and carried away what they could kill to regale
upon at home. Sometimes we find a tiger matched with a lion ;
sometimes a lion with a bull, a bull with an elephant, a rhinoceros with
a bear. But the most wonderfully surprising feature in those horrid
sports was, the bringing of the sea-water into the amphitheatre, when
huge sea-monsters were introduced, to combat with wild beasts. Cal-
phuni, in his Eclogues, describes the scene thus : —

" Nor sylvan monsters we alone have viewed ;
But huge sea-calves, dyed red with hostile blood
Of bears, lie floundering in the wondrous flood."

The men who en<iao;ed with wild beasts had the common name of
bestiarii. Some of these were condemned persons ; others hired them-
selves out, at a set pay, as gladiators. We find several of the nobility
and gentry, many times, voluntarily undertaking a part in these encoun-
ters ; and Juvenal acquaints us that the ladies of Rome were am-
bitious of showing their courage on such occasions, though with the
forfeiture of their modesty : —

" Nor Mars alone his bloody arms shall wield ;
Venus, when Caesar bids, shall take the field —
Not only wear the breeches, but the shield."

THE GI-ADIATORS. 285

'• Cum M<zvia Tuscum jigat aprum, et nuda ieneat venabula mamma."
Those who coped on the ground with beasts, commonly met with a
very unequal match ; and their safety consisted in the nimble turning
of their bodies, and leaping up and down to elude their adversary.
In the show of wild beasts, exhibited by Julius Caesar, in his third
consulship, twenty elephants were opposed, in the circus, to 6ve hundred
footmen.

The first rise of the celebrated but horrible class of human beings,
called gladiators, is accounted for by the Roman writers in this way :
It was their custom to believe that the ghosts of the dead were only to
be satisfied, and kept fiom howling abroad, by the sacrifice of human
blood. At first they used to buy captives and slav'es, whom they
butchered and offered up at these obsequies ; afterwards they contrived
to veil over their impious barbarity with the specious show of pleasure
and voluntary combat. And therefore, on the day appointed for the
sacrifices to the departed ghosts, they obliged the captives to engage in
mortal combat with each other, at the tombs of the chief men ; and
the victor who killed his opponent obtained his liberty and a reward.
This shocking custom, as I shall show, grew with the growth of
Rome, and strengthened with her strength, until a nation of savages
was created, which sv/ept like a curse over the face of the earth.

The first public show of gladiators, apart from the funeral rites, took
place at Rome, in the consulship of Claudius, long before the Christian
era. Within a little time, when they found the people exceedingly
pleased with such bloody entertainments, the consuls, who courted pop-
ularity, gave them these feats of blood frequently, and they soon grew
into a custom. And not only on the death of any great or I'ich citizen
did these inhuman rites take place, but all the principal magistrates took
occasion to present the people with such spectacles, in order to procure
their esteem and affection. As for the emperors, it was so much their
interest to ingratiate themselves with the commonalty, that they
obliged them with these shows upon almost all occasions ; as on
their birthday, at the time of a triumph, after any signal victory,
or at the consecration of any public edifice. As the occasions of
these solemnities were prodigiously increased, so was the length of
them, and the number of the combatants. At the first show exhib-
ited by the family of the Bruti, there were only three pair of gladia-
tors. Julius Cassar presented three hundred and twenty pair of these
fighdng monsters. Titus exhibited a combat of gladiators and wild
beasts which lasted a hundred days together. And Trajan continued

286 ROMAN LADIES ENTER THE CIRCUS TO FIGHT EACH OTHER.

the barbarous amusement one hundred and twenty-three days, at a sin-
gle show, during which he brought out a thousand pair of gladiators.

These gladiators were commonly slaves or captives ; for it was an
ordinary custom to sell a disobedient servant to the lanistis, (master
gladiators,) or their instructors, who, after they had taught them part of
tiieir skill, let them out for money at the shows. But mark I the free-
men subsequently put in for a share of this honor, to be killed in jest,
and many times offered themselves to hire for the amphitheatre —
whence they had the name of the auctorati. Nay, the knights and
noblemen, and even the senators, at length were not ashamed to take up
the same profession, some to keep themselves from starving, after they
had squandered away their property, and others to curry favor with the
emperors. The emperor Augustus issued a public edict that none of
the senatorian order should turn gladiators, and soon after he laid the
same restraint upon the knights. Yet these prohibitions were so little
regarded by succeeding emperors, that Nero brought out into one show,
as gladiators, four hundred senators and six hundred of the equestrian
order.

But all this will be left in the shade, when we come to a further
search, and find the very ivomen engaging, in the circus, as gladiators —
particularly under Nero and Domitian. Juvenal, in his sixth satire,
thus exposes their barbarous manners — translated by Dryden :

"Behold tlie strutting Amazonian there!
She stands in guard, with her riglit foot before,
Her coats tucked up, and all her motions just ;
She stamps, and then cries ' Hah ! ' at every thrust"

And again he says, —

"O, what a decent sight 'tis to behold
All thy wife's magazine by auction sold —
The belt, the crested plume, the several suits
Of armor, and the Spanish leather boots ! "

These female gladiators fought with sharp sp^rs or swords, until the
combat ended with the death of one. Some of the more daring en-
gaged with the men, and even with the wild animals. — The Roman
senators traded in the virtue and in the persons of their wives ; it was
common for these noble Romans to let out their wives for one, two, or
three years, to other noble Romans, and receive them back again with
the price of their dishonor. Even the great Cato was guilty of this
degradation. O, but it is shocking to proceed.

HOME AS STUDIED BY OUR YOUTH. 287

This barbarous, cruel, inhuman, beastly state of morals prevailed in
Rome for six hundred years — ay, during its most palmy days.

When the thrones of the emperors were at last endangered by the
numbers of the gladiators, — when all decency was swept away, and all
security for life or property anniiiilated, by the prevalence of this hor-
rible propensity, in a city' composed, we are assured, of millions, — it was
then the emperors tried to put a stop to the horrid practices ; but it
was not till Christianity had triumphed, it was not till the divine
precepts, given to the apostles and Christian missionaries, had been
sowed and nurtured by rivers of the martyrs' blood, that these inhuman
practices were abated and melted down. How did this ferocious race
meet the preachers and apostles of Christianity ? Ask the page of his-
tory, and it will answer, With imprisonment, torture, and death. His-
tory will tell you that the Christian blood shed by the Romans, in their
persecutions of the followers of Christianity, exceeded the powere of
calculation. It is said that four millions of human beings were put to
death simply for professing the peaceful doctrines of the merciful Savior
of the world. And at length, so wearied did the Roman judges be-
come, from the sheer labor of condemning the Christians to death, and
so fatiguing was the labor of executing them, that judges and execution-
ers at last could not with readiness be obtained to do the work of blood.
Many of these judges, and many of the executioners too, seeing so many
freely go to death rather than renounce a single particle of the Christian
faith, became themselves Christians ; for, they said, a religion that could
not be extinguished after the shedding of so much blood, must have God
to support it.

But it is not only of their ferocity and beastly habits we can
speak — they practised the most ridiculous superstition. They be-
lieved in dreams, and had public interpreters appointed to communicate
to the emperor the meaning of the dreams of his people. Thus the
dreams of the young or the old ladies of Rome influenced the decis-
ions of generals and statesmen. The appearance of certain birds or
animals crossing the march of an army, would induce their bravest gen-
erals to turn aside from their purpose. Animals were sacrificed to their
gods to propitiate them before battle, and the manner of their death de-
cided the order of battle ; the quantity of blood, the number of groans
or struggles of the dying beast, gave the cast to their fate. -

Such was bloody, barbarous, beastly, and inhuman Rome — Rome,
whose deeds your youth are taught to study, as sources of instruction and
models for imitation — Rome, whose history is held to be a part of

288 REIGN OF TUATHAL.

the "classics," or that combination of knowledge, which the world
bows to as the literary code, by which it is to be governed ; whilst
Ireland, brave, chivalrous, modest, virtuous, hospitable Ireland, —
pious, learned, cultivated, polished, — the land where not one martyr was
offered to oppose the introduction of Christianity, — the land where
architecture flourished, and flourishes to this day, — the school for virtue,
oratory, music, poetry, and arms, — that great and good model which has
survived Rome, and will survive equally bloody and inhuman England,
— that great model of all the human duties and all the human orna-
ments, children of the Milesian race, is forgotten by your teachers, and
your youth are educated in every thing but the history of your ven-
erated and almost forgotten father land.

Having made this unavoidable digression, I return to the reign of the
monarch Tuaihal. The triennial meeting of the estates at Tai'a were
carefully attended to during this reign. The national records were
revised and corrected, and every new art or discovery that sprang up
was cherished. It is recorded that, at this time, a meeting of the
estates of Connaught was held at the palace of Cruchain, in that
province, at which new laws were oiiginated, to be proposed in the
chief parliament of Tara. During the same reign, a meeting of the
estates of Leinster was held at Naas, to suggest alterations in the
national code of laws, and to provide for the better administration of
the laws throughout the province. This proves for us, that, at this
period, the legislative powers of government were distributed, to a cer-
tain extent, through the provinces, just as the powers of the American
republic are, to a certain extent, distributed through the states. This
is further confirmed by the action of the Ulster estates, which met at
the celebrated palace of Emania, in the north, in the same reign ;
where certain laws were passed for the regulation and encouragement
of arts, manufactures, trade, and commerce. And thus were laid in the
earth those seeds of manufactures and commerce, which, we shall see,
as we get along, progressed in the north of Ireland, and still linger in
that part of the kingdom. In fact, we may say that Ireland was to
Europe, in respect of manufiictures, what the New England States are to
America. On this matter, Tacitus, the Roman historian, in his Life of
Julius Agricola, states that the commerce of the Irish, in his days,
was much more extensive tlian that of the Britons.

The Roman legions had now laid waste a great part of Britain.
Owing to the struggles for die diadem that had, for the previous few
years, distracted the Irish at home, and had drawn back the auxiliary

tuathal's address to the national assembly. 289

legions, which they had been previously enabled to leave in Britain,
the Romans found little to resist their onward course, and King
Tuathal, fearing for the triumph of Roman power so near him, appre-
hending his own green island might be the next gem the stranger
would set in his diadem, summoned the estates to assemble and consider
their danger, being in the very neighborhood of Roman conquerors.
King TuathaVs address to his parliament is to be found, in the original
Irish, in Bishop MoUoy's Genealogies of Irish Kings, and bears the
marks of vigor and eloquence.

After alluding to other matters, the prince thus concludes a powerful
appeal : —

" Behold, wise counselloi-s, the Roman legions menacing our coasts,
pampering their lofty hopes with the expectation of subjecting this
sacred isle, rich with the dust of Milesian heroes, to their yoke ! Will
you suffer your wives and daughters to be dragged as captives to the
streets of Rome, to share the ignoble fate of Britain and Albania's
daughters ? Will you suffer the Roman eagles to perch on the national
standard of Gathclus, [the harp,] that sacred standard which the great
Hebrew prophet, Moses, gave to the father of the Milesian race ? Be
united, be firm in concord, and the Irish air will never be poisoned by
the breath of the Roman invaders. When we march forth to battle,
with souls enkindled with the spirit of patriotism, the despoiler's power
will recede from our spears, as the foaming waves recoil when broken
and dissolved on the rocks of our shores. Yes, senators, if destructive
and intestine dissension make no chasms in our ranks and love of
country, the Romans shall find us invincible, and as firm in the fight
as the majestic mountain, which, seated on its ocean throne, looks
down with contempt at the idle rage of the turbulent billows that burst
on its rocky footstool ! "

This heart-stirring, this sublime appeal to the nation, was responded
to in the equipment of an immense force for immediate operations in
Britain. This force was put under the command of the celebrated
Irish hero whose name has come down to our days surrounded with
glory — Gealta Gooth, whose progeny gave kings to Leinster for many
ages after.

The forces of Rome at this time had devastated Britain, under the
Roman emperor, Adrian, anno 118, and were about marching on
Caledonia, which, by treaty, the Irish were bound to protect from
invasions. The king of the Picts placed the combined forces under
the command of the Irish general, and he immediately gave batde to
37

290 GEALTA GOOTH COMMANDS AN EXPEDITION.

the Romans, whom he defeated in two engagements, and compelled
to retreat to Newcastle. The emperor, Adrian, who was then in
Wales, repaired to the north, where his armies were disheartened.
Here he commenced a wall of clay, the erecting of which he in-
spected in person, carrying it across from Carlisle to Newcastle, a dis-
tance of sixty miles. This wall subsequently gave place to a wall of
stone, erected by Severus, which yet remains to tell the world of the
bravery of the ancient Irish, and their kinsmen, the Picts.

Gealta Gooth encamped at Stirling, and awaited orders from the
king and parliament of Ireland, as to whether he should cross the
Tweed in chase of the Romans ; but it was decided in the Irish
councils, that he should not proceed farther with the Irish army than
their compact with the Caledonians required. And here was the Roman
power checked by one of our forgotten ancestoi-s, while the Roman
warriors, who fled before him, are recorded and held up to our youth
as the paragons of bravery and military glory.

Shortly after this, an event occuiTed, of a most painful and tragic
character, which lit up for a long time after the strife of civil war in
Ireland. The monarch Tuathal, whose life we are considering, had
two daughters, fair and beautiful ; the elder of whom, Dairine, was
wooed and wedded by Eochaidtk, prince of Leinster, and carried, with
an immense retinue, in great splendor, to his palace of Ferns, in
Wexford. The bride was accompanied to her future palace and
home by her younger sister, Fithier, a princess, we are told, of
extraordinary beauty, who remained some time in the palace of
Ferns. During this time, the prince, Eockaidth, smitten with her
extraordinary beauty, conceived a strong passion for his sister-in-law,
and. In some time after her return to her father's palace of Tara, fol-
lowed her thither, dressed in the deepest mourning, and represented to
the king, his father-in-law, that his wife, Dairine, had died suddenly —
" an event," said he, " that will break my heart, unless your majesty
snatches me from the precipice of despair, by giving me the princess
Fithier, to soothe my sorrows, and replace in these arms the counter-
part of that angel perfection of which death has robbed me." The
monarch, moved by his well-assumed grief, consented to bestow a
second daughter on the fiend. He soon wooed and captivated the
young princess, and they were married by the arch-Druid, with great
solemnity, at the palace of Tara. In some time afterwards, the married
pair set out for the prince's palace at Ferns. When they arrived there,
the shame and amazement of the young princess, Fithier, on finding

ORIGIN OF THE LEINSTER TRIBUTE. 291

her elder sister yet alive, cannot be described. Dairine, the first and
lawful wife of the prince, fired with jealousy, loaded her poor innocent
sister with the most dreadfid reproaches, which operated so sensibly on
her feelings, that she fell into convulsions, and died in a paroxysm of
grief. Dairine, deeply affected at the death of a sister she always
loved so dearly, threw herself upon the body, and, overwhelmed with the
wickedness of her husband and the death of her beloved sister, plunged
a dagger in her own bosom, and died clasping that sister in her arms.

In the whole history of Greece or Rome, — ay, of Roman virtue,
that you are taught so much to admire, — there is no more shining
example of female virtue, sensibility, and self-immolation, on their long
records, than the death of these two sisters presents.

So overwhelmed in grief and rage was the monarch Tuathal. at
this dishonor and tragic end of his two daughters, that he called his
estates of Tara together, before whom he related all these facts, when
it was resolved, with one accord, to drive the guilty prince of Leinster
from his throne. War was instantly declared, and the enraged monarch
led his army into Leinster in person, laying waste the habitations of
Eochaidth's followers. Eochaidth and a few of his followers sought
safety in flight ; and from the place of his secret refuge, he despatched
his chief bard to the enraged monarch, with offers of the most humble
submission to such terms as he chose to dictate. This proposal
being made with considerable address by the prince's bard, an armistice
was agreed to upon the following conditions: That Eochaidth, to
enjoy his life and crown for himself, and to have his principality
guarantied to his successors forever, should pay unto the chief monarch
of Ireland the following tribute every second year, viz., three thou-
sand cows, three thousand ounces pure silver, three thousand mantles
richly embroidered, three thousand sheep, three thousand hogs, and
three thousand copper caldrons. This tribute, known as the Boroimhe
tax, was the after-cause of much internal warfare, when the guilty
author had been for centuries in the dust. It proves for us the mas-
culine virtue of those people who marked a whole province to destruc-
tion for the crime of its prince ; and it proves the wealth that abounded
in Ireland in those early ages, by the nature of the medium in which
this tribute was paid.

Some of our English neighbors of the present day insinuate, that
we were a poor, miserable set before they came amongst us ; that v,'e
had no gold or silver ; that we had no manufactures of cloth, and,
of course, no such thing as' embroidered mantles ; and that, as for
copper caldrons, we never had the like, and never had a leg of mutton

292 DEATH OF TUATHAL.

to put into a caldron, till they came over and blessed us with their arts,
sciences, and civilization. But the items of these and other tributes,
the detail of the will of our princes, and th6 concurring testimony of
Roman, French, and Florentine writers, will prove, in spite of our
oppressors, what Ireland was. And the concurring desire and sym-
pathy of mankind will soon restore Ireland to her rightful position, and
enable her to pass through future ages with still more stainless glory
than she won during the ages that are past.

Tuathal, having reigned fifty years, was killed by a revolter,
named Mul, who persecuted his family and followers. Tuathal's eldest
son fled to the camp of his uncle, the chief of the Picts, in whose
armies he performed prodigies of valor. But the usurper, Mai, losing
the confidence of the people, FeidUmh, the exiled prince, hastened
back to his native land with a few followers, when the whole popula-
tion rose in his behalf, and, after some slight resistance, the usurper was
killed, and Feidlimh crowned with much pomp at the palace of Tara,
in the year of Christianity 141.

MUSIC AND POETRY.

293

THE EMERALD ISLE.

Q.UABI Alleoretto.

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MUSIC AND POETRY.

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Of the heart that is yearning to be with thee now.
I fancy I grasp the brave hand of my brother ;

I see the glad light of my sister's fond smile ;
I stand in the hall of my father and mother,

Who welcome me back to the Emerald Isle !

O ! land of the grateful, where every emotion
Of kindness is fostered, of friendship sincere ;

Where every breast, in its loyal devotion.

Would barter its life-blood to spare thee a tear!

0 beautiful land ! whose sunny-eyed daughters

Wear hearts on their lips, that have never known guile,

1 hasten to thee, o'er the far-swelling water,

My home, and my Hountry ! the Emerald Isle !

296

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LECTURE IX.

FROM A. D. 141 TO 279.

Reign of Feidhmh. — Law of Lex Talionis. — Reign of Cathoir More. — His extraor-
dinary Will. — His Posterity. — Wealth and Refinement of the ancient Irish. —
Reign of Con of the Hundred Battles. — Quarrel with Eogan, Prince of Munster. —
Battle of Lena. — Gaul M'Morna, the Connaught Hero. — Death of Con, and
Accession of Conaire. — Carbrai Rihda. — Caledonian Colony. — Established and
sustained by the Irish. — Proof. — Feargus the Second of Scotland. — Liah Fail. —
The Stone of Destiny. — The Kings of Ireland, Scotland, and England, crowned
upon it. — Origin of many Irish Families. — Fion M'Cumhall. •=— Oisin. — The
Leinster Militia. — The Reign of Cormac. — His Laws. — Palace of Tara rebuilt by
him, of Marble. — His Magnificence. — The Officers he appointed. — Successes of
Fion M'Cumhall against the Romans in Britain. — Revolts against Cormac. —
Cormac's Abdication in Favor of his Son. — His Writings. — Proclaims his Belief in
God, and renounces the Sun Worship. — Persecution of him by the Druids. —
Tara's Hall. — Great Meeting on Tara Hill, in August, 1843.

Feidlimh, as we have seen, succeeded to the throne, anno 141.
He introduced a consolidation of all the good laws of his predeces-
sors— Ollamh, Moran, Jughaine, More, and Connor.

Previous to his time, the only crime punishable with death was the
insult of any person at Tara during the sitting of the legislature,
especially the insult of a lady. All crimes committed under other cir-
cumstances might be paid for by eric, or fine. This, we find, was the
custom of the early Greeks, and of the Britons also, down to the'seventh
century of the Christian era. Feidlimh introduced the law known as lex
talionis, which signifies a life for a life, an eye for an eye, and a limb
for a limb. The punishment of death was inflicted on criminals by the
sword, by the arrow, or by drowning. " Hanging," says Bishop Hutch-
inson, " the most ignominious of all deaths, was unknown in Ireland
until after the English invasion." A complete reformation of the laws
was effected by Feidlimh, and a comprehensive code of enactments
was passed, which appropriated punishment, founded on the strictest
equity, to every occurring crime. These enactments have passed
down to posterity, known as the Breatha Nuimhe, or Celestial Judg-
ments, and have formed the foundation of that code of laws estab-
lished in Britain seven centuries later, by King Alfred.

Feidlimh died at his palace of Tara, anno 150, after a reign of nine
years, leaving behind him, in the equitable code of laws which he com-
piled, a lasting monument of his wisdom and talents, — a code v/hich

CATHOIR MORE. HIS WILL. 299

Warner pronounces to be " strictly equitable, and agreeable to the laws
of God."

The estates of Tara were summoned to choose a successor, and the
choice fell on Cathoir More, grandson of Gealta Gooth, the cele-
brated hero who opposed Agricola and his Roman legions at the
Grampian Hills.

Cathoir More, we are told, was a wise prince ; but the pretensions
of other of the royal houses disturbed his reign, and, at length. Con,
surnamed " of the Hundred Battles," a prince of his own line, foment-
ed an insurrection against his throne, and finally disputed its possession
on the field. Both parties amassed considerable armies to contend for
empire.

On the night preceding the decisive battle that was to put one or the
other on the throne of Tara, Cathoir awoke from a dream, in which
he saw foreshadowed the disastrous results of the ensuing day. He
summoned his chief bard, or secretary, and his ten sons, together with
all his chief counsellors, to his presence, whom he addressed as
follows : —

" To-morrow's sun will beam on my dead body ; but I shall die, like
ray gallant ancestors, resisting the foe, while I have strength to stand at
the head of my brave army, in whose ranks there is not a single coward."

He then desired all to leave him, except his chief bard, whom he
caused to engross his will, a copy of which is carefully preserved in the
Book of Lecan, to be seen in the Irish College, Paris. It was tran-
scribed from that antique record by the celebrated O'Flaherty.

To his beloved son Rosa, called Failge, he bequeaths his kingdom
of Leinster, to which he adds ten shields, richly ornamented, ten
swords with gold handles, ten gold cups, and wishes him a numerous
and warlike posterity to govern Tara.

To his second son, Daire Berach, he gives Inath Laigheen, the
present Fingal, and part of Wicklow. He wishes him to prove a suc-
cessful hero, and always to rule over the Gailean Glas — the ancient
Belgfe. To this he added one hundred and fifty spears, ornamented
with silver ; fifty shields, ornamented and embossed with gold and silver ;
fifty swords, of exquisite workmanship ; fifty rings, of the purest gold ;
one hundred and fifty cloaks, of rich manufacture ; and seven military
standards.

To his third son, Breasal, seven ships of burden ; fifty shields, richly
ornamented with gold and silver ; five swords with gold hilts ; and five
chariots, with harnesses and horses. To these he adds the lands on the

300 WILL OF CATHOIR MORE.

banks of the River Amergin, and charges him to watch over the old
inhabitants, who will be otherwise troublesome to him.

To Cetach, the fourth, he leaves possessions, thinking it a pity to
separate him from his brothers.

To Feargus Luascan, the fifth, he left nothing ; but this defect his
brothers supplied.

To Oliel, the sixth, his backgammon tables and men, saying that
neither the possession of lands or towns would be of any use to him, as
he never attended to any study but gaming.

To his seventh son, Aungos, he gave nothing ; but this defect his
brothers supplied.

To Ecoaidth, the eighth son, he gives his benediction only, wishing
his posterity may adhere to their blood, and calls him Treath Fear, or
" a weak man," for he was so far imposed upon as to give away a tract
of land claimed as a promise in his sleep.

To his son Criompthon he leaves fifty brass balls, with brass maces
to play with ; ten backgammon tables, of curious workmanship ; and
two chess tables.

To his youngest and tenth son, Fiacha, whom he praises for his
bravery and spirit, and for the universal love he gained, he leaves the
country about Wexford ; recommends him to support his brother, and
bequeaths him fifty large vessels, made of yew, fifty drinking cups, and
fifty pied horses, with brass bits.

To his nephew, Tuathal, he gives ten chariots, with horses and
harnesses ; five pair of backgammon tables ; five chess boards, with
ivory men ; thirty shields, embossed with gold ; and fifty swords, highly
ornamented.

To Mogh Chorh, one hundred black and white cows, with their
calves, coupled two and two with brass yokes ; one hundred shields ;
one hundred javelins, colored red ; one hundred polished spears ; fifty
safFron-colored cloaks ; one hundred horses, of different colors ; one hun-
dred gold pins for cloaks ; one hundred goblets, elegandy finished ; one
hundred large vats, made of yew ; fifty chariots, curiously finished, ten
of which were of exquisite workmanship ; fifty chess tables ; fifty play-
ing tables, of different kinds ; fifty trumpets ; fifty standards ; fifty
copper caldrons ; with a privilege of being privy counsellor to the king
of Leinster.

To the pnnce of Leis he left one hundred cows, one hundred
shields, one hundred swords, one hundred spears, and seven spotted
horses.

LETTER or THOMAS o'cONOR. 30l

Cathoir More, according to the English Dr. Warner, was the richest
monarch that ever appeared in Europe ; and these details of wealth
and luxuries prove the advanced degree of maturity to which arts and
manufactures had then arrived in Ireland.

King Cathoir fell, as he himself predicted, in the next day's battle;
but his posterity often sons gave to Ireland several of the most patriotic
and influential families who distinguished themselves for many ages.
From Rosa, the eldest son, sprang the house of O^ Connor Faly, the
O'Dcmpsies, lords of Clanmarah, and the O^Duns. From Daire Ba-
rach are the O^Gormans, O'Mallone, and O'Mooneys descended.
The issue of Fiachiadth, the younger, gave more kings to the throne of
Leinster than those of all his brothers united. From him are descended
the royal families of MMurragh, and Cavanagh, kings of Leinster,
O' Toole, O' Byrne, O' Murphy, O'DoivIing, O'Maoilrain, O'Cin-
seleugh, M Cormick.

Rosa Failge, the eldest son of Cathoir, is the great progenitor of the
O'Connors of Faly, or OfFaly, a district comprehending the King and
Queen's counties, and part of the county of Kildare. Roger and Arthur
O'Connor, or their children, are the only legitimate descendants of this
sept of the 0'Connoi"s now living. Their father, John O'Connor, of
Mount Pleasant, enjoyed a remnant of the family estates in 1750.
Arthur O'Connor was seized as one of the chiefs of the revolution of
1798, and in the amnesty agreed upon between Lord Castlereagh and
the state prisonei-s, he passed over to France, where he yet remains in
exile. I am not sufficiently acquainted with the family of Roger
O'Connor to speak with certainty of its living members ; but, having
written, for information on this point, to the venerable Thomas O'Con-
or, of New York, I have received from him the following letter in reply,
which I give to the reader without curtailment : —

"New York, June 24, 1844.
" Dear Sir,

" I have your favor of the 19th instant. I am not an his-
torian, and cannot throw any useful light on the interesting subject of
your intended publication. In this momentous crisis of the Irish strug-
gle, the patriot will hail every well-authenticated historical research as
a useful contribution to the stock which patriotism accumulates for the
vindication and support of Ireland.

" The O'Connors of Cork, and those of Roscommon, to both of which
you allude, are, I am inclined to believe, different families, unconnected
by consanguinity, or deriving a common origin in some period long past.

302 LETTER OF THOMAS o'cONOR.

"Arthur O'Connor, an exile residing in France, must, I suppose, be
the chief of the Cork family. The O'Connor Don, residing at Clanalis,
in the county of Roscommon, is the head of the Roscommon family.
Fergus O'Connor, who distinguished himself by a generous advocacy
of the righteous cause of the British Chartists, is, I suppose, a son of
Roger, and a nephew of Arthur O'Connor.

" In a small volume, entitled ' Dissertations on the Ancient History of
Ireland,' published in Dublin, some sixty or seventy years ago, I find
the following paragraph : —

" ' From Rossa Filgeach, the eldest son of Cahoir the Great, came the
O'Connors of Failgeach, a large country in ancient time, comprehend-
ing considerable parts of the King's county, the Queen's, and Kildare.
They were, in all ages, a very martial and renowned family, as all our
annals testify, (both before and after the invasion of Henry the Second,)
until they were crushed by the superiority of relentless power, in the
reign of Philip and Mary. Some general officers of the family serve, at
present, with great repute, under his Catholic majesty ; and John
O'Connor, of Mount Pleasant, in the King's county, esquire, enjoys, at
this day, a part of his ancestors' estate, one of the most ancient tenures
in the kingdom.'

" In the same volume I find the following : —

" ' Roderic, the last king of Ireland, was chief of the Hy-Brune and
Clan Murray race. For more than a thousand years, this family, in-
cluding a few of the Hy-Fiacans, governed the province of Connaught
with sovereign authority. On the failure of Roderic's power, the gov-
ernment of this country fell to Cabal Crovedarg, in his time as great a
man as any in this kingdom, and the younger brother of Roderic.
From him descended, in fifteen lineal generations, the late Andrew
O'Connor, of Ballintobber, in the county of Roscommon, a person of
great worth and virtue, the chief of his name, and the father of Daniel,
the present O'Connor Don, and of the chevalier Thomas O'Connor, an
officer of great repute in the service of his most Christian majesty.

"'Dominic, the eldest son of O'Connor Don, lives now abroad on his
travels; and I mention him here with the greater pleasure, as, in so
early a period of life, he is exhibiting those rare accomplishments, which
are not the less valuable that they are independent of the highest birth,
as well as out of the reach of fortune.'

" In a work compiled by an Irish ecclesiastic, and published in Eng-
land, in the year 1814, th'^re appears a genealogy showing the descent
of the present fanuly of the O'Connors of the county of 'Roscommon,

LETTER OF THOMAS o'cONOR. 303

from Tordelbachus, the supreme monarch of Ireland, the father of
Roderic and of his brother Cahal Crovedarg, (Red-handed,) herein
ah'eady mentioned. The names appear in Irish and in Latin. They
are as follow, as well as 1 can translate. Opposite to some of them,
I give, in brackets, the names as they appear in the Latin version.
The other names are probably properly translated.

Turlough (Tordelbachus.)

11.

Owen.

Charles.

12.

Carbery (Carbreius.)

Hugh (iEdhus.)

13.

Dermod (Diannitius.)

Roderic.

14.

Hugh.

Owen (Eoganus.)

15.

Charles.

Hugh.

16.

Charles.

Turlough.

17.

Dennis.

Hugh.

18.

Charles.

Turlough.

19.

Dennis.

10.

Felim.

"Dennis, the last name above mentioned, died, and was succeeded
by his son Owen, the first of the family of Balenagare, who assumed the
affix of ' Don.' He died, and is succeeded by his son Dennis, the pres-
ent O'Connor Don, residing at Clanalis, in the county of Roscommon,
formerly the residence of the late Dominic O'Connor Don.

" Owen, of Belenagare, and Dominic, of Clanalis, were descended
from a common ancestor, a lineal descendant of the monarch Tourlough,
or Tordelbachus. The deaths of Dominic and of his brothers Alexan-
der and Thomas, without issue, in the present century, rendered extinct
that branch of the O'Connor family. The next in lineal succession
from the monarch was Owen of Belenagare, then living. This accounts
for the genealogy being carried down in the living line of Belenagare,
and not in the extinct line of Clanalis.

"The present O'Connor Don represents his county in the imperial
parliament — more properly the British parliament ; for the mockery of
Irish participation in the legislature is an absolute and intended insult to
Ireland. But a better fate is in store for unhappy Ireland.

" I fully believe that England is a falling nation. If any thing is
more clear to my mind, it is this, that Ireland is a rising nation. The
great, last struggle now making by England is a proof that British
rulers are sufficiently sensible of the necessity of more than ordinary
exertion to maintain a tottering fabric, not in the vain expectation of se-
curing permanent stability, but with the more rational hope of extend-

304

LETTER OF THOMAS O CONOR.

ing the lease. If I mistake not, the British minister has, by the im-
prisonment of O'Connell, extinguished this hope.

"The rise of Ireland does not depend solely on the fall of England.
Such fall might accelerate the ripening destiny of Ireland; but Ireland
must rise in despite of whatever obstructions may be interposed by the
British minister. The British people — thanks to our enlightening
presses — at length discover that they are not themselves free; that
they gain nothing, but lose much, by the degradation of Ireland, and
that it is their interest to make a common cause with Ireland against the
common enemy of both. The poor may not reach the station of the
wealthy, so far as worldly pelf is concerned, but they will approximate
in intellectual endowment. Inequality of pecuniary fortune will always
exist, and it may be well that it be so ; but the acquisition of literary
information, the fruition of which by one portion of the community,
and the insidious denial of it to the other, have hitherto constituted the
distinction between the lordly arrogance of the one and the constrained
servility of the other, is about to become, like the air we breathe, the
common heritage of all ; delusion and humbug will no longer prevail
over the tutored mind ; neither fraud nor force will cajole or deter ; lit-
erary education will resist the subtlety of the one, and the modern
invention of an Irishman — passive resistance — will nullify the other.
The revolution of Europe is clearly commenced. Old Ireland is in the
van. It surely cannot be that those who lead in the movement will be
the last to reach the goal of general aim. ' Whom God would destroy,
he first makes mad.' Neither concession nor compromise will come
from a government which casts the gamester's last throw. Mr. Peel
obstinately resists the repeal of the union. Let me be a prophet : the
present generation will not pass away until an Irish ambassador will be
received at Washington, and there recognized as the representative of
free, sovereign, and independent Ireland. I will not see this day; you
may. Emi go bragh.

" Your obedient servant,

" Thos. O'Conor.
"Thomas Mooney, Esq."

I take it that I have proved, from the items of the will of Cathoir
More, that Ireland was then (the second centur}') in the enjoyment
of all the arts, manufactures, luxuries, and literature, which mankind
could boast of in any part of the world.

Independently of the great wealth conveyed by Cathoir More to his

CON OF THE HUNDRED BATTLES. 305

ten sons, — the profuse Retail of gold and silver vessels ; of arms and
war chariots, ornamented with gold ; of embroidered mantles and cloaks
for knights and ladies; of ships ; of cattle; of spears, swords, banners;
of the chess boards and ivory men ; of backgammon tables ; of musical
instruments, &;c., seems to have been recorded by the wealthy donor,
with a prophetic eye, as evidences which would go, to the latest pos-
terity, to overwhelm in confusion those who, having pillaged Ireland,
and butchered her people, would traduce her name, and deny her the
honor of her twenty-four centuries of political independence — an inde-
pendence adorned by the development of arts, sciences, literature, and
glory. But in this the calumniators of Ireland shall be disappointed ; for

" Enough of her glory
Remains on each sword
To light us to victory yet"

In the year of Christianity 153, Con of the Hundred Battles, son
of Feidlimh the Lawgiver, succeeded to the monarchy of Ireland.
He was a prince of great abilities, both in the field and in council ; and
his reifi-n has furnished the historians of Ireland vvitli much exciting
matter for applauding comment and instructive digression. His reign
was embroiled by a contest with Eogan, the prince of Munster, for
the supreme government of the country. Many heroically-fought
battles ensued. At length, it was resolved that the government and
patronage of Ireland should be divided into equal parts, as in the days
of Heber and Heremon, the first kings ; that Eogan should govern the
southern division, lying beyond the line drawn from Dublin to Galway ;
and that Con of the Hundred Battles should have the government and
income of the northern division. This arrangement continued for some
years ; but in the year 181, we find the wars again renewed, we are in-
formed upon the following grounds : —

Eogan, on a royal tour through his dominions, visited Dublin, which,
in those days, was called Atha Cliath Dubhline, or the " Passage over
the Black PooV He found a greater number of ships on the north, or
Con^s side of the river, than on his own ; and, of course, the revenues
and customs derived by Con were unduly greater than his. This proves
to us the extent of trade which Dublin enjoyed in those early times.
In the days of St. Patrick we find it celebrated " for its extent and
magnificence, the number and riches of its inhabitants, the grandeur of
its edifices, and the greatness of its commerce."

This trivial ground of quarrel, added to others of a weightier charac-
ter, produced the revival of hostilities. Both princes prepared with
39

306 EOGAN. ART. GAUL m'mORNA.

great animation for the decisive battle that \^as to give one or other
supreme dominion. At length the armies meet at Lena, in the King's
county. The Munster prince, Eogan, is described by the historians as
cutting down all before him in the contest — moving, like the living
demon of fire, through the hostile ranks.

Art, another princely warrior, is thus described, as he enters the
battle field, by the recording bard : —

" tlie hero of Tara !

The irresistible wave in enmity ;

As quick as lightning in defence;

Terrible in battle;

The support of mighty armies ;

The very hand of liberality ;

The all-protecting; the

Performer of most mighty deeds !

AH, the son of Con, the son

Of Tuathal, arose.

Warrior-like was his anger,

Powerful his voice ;

Lovely the champion,

His flaxen hair plaited.

His shirt of silk.

In one hand he bears two bows,

In the other his javelin.

And by his side

His dreadful and irresistible sword.

Yonder he sweeps over the plain, like

The thunder-bolt that tumbles the rocks

Into the foaming sea.

How majestic is the hero's step!

The brightness of his sword contends

With the refulgence of the sunbeam ;

The gleam of his spear illuminates the hill ! "

We find, from the detailed descriptions, three things proved ; Jlrst,
the beauty and majesty of the poetry ; secondly, the bravery, high
bearing, and natural nobility of the hero ; and, thirdly, the fact of the
silk manufacture being, at this early age, a flourishing branch of national
industry — centuries before the Gauls or Britons were in possession
of it.

But at length the mighty Gaul M'Morna, the Connaught general,
stood before Eogan, sword in hand. " Now," said Eogan, " we meet
in a fair field ; let our swords decide which of us is the bravest." They
fought desperately for an hour, when it was the fate of Eogan to fall, a

DEATH OF CON, AND ACCESSION OF CONAIRE. 307

victim to his own unreasonable ambition. During this great personal
combat, the armies on each side, as if by the spell of enchantment, sus-
pended hostilities to gaze with wonder on the mighty conflict of their
chiefs. Such a circumstance, if illustrated by the poetry of a Homer,
would rank, on the pages of glory, as brilliantly as any action or circum-
stance of Greek or Trojan valor which that great poet cast in the mould
of immortality.

When Eogan fell, pierced by a hundred wounds from the sword of
Gaul M'Morna, his soldiers lifted up his body on their shields, to show
to Eogan's followers that he was slain. " Lay down the body of the
king of Munster," said his brave conqueror, " for he died as a hero
should die — covered with wounds and glory."

Ck)n of the Hundred Battles was then declared monarch of Ireland,
over which he reigned, not without much trouble, for thirty years.
Historians differ about the manner of his death, some alleging he fell
in battle, others that he was assassinated. O'Halloran doubts the latter
view, as it was totally inconsistent with the genius and spirit of chivalry
which then pervaded every class in Ireland.

A. D. 183. On the death of Con, the national assembly of Tara
proceeded to the election of a successor. The suffrage of the majority
declaring for Conaire, of the northern or Heremonian line, he was,
accordingly, seated on the throne of Tara. Conaire, being in undis-
turbed possession of the L'ish throne, had the greater means left to him
of opposing the Roman power in Britain, and went over at the head
of considerable legions of Irish, to resist their forces, which were
commanded by Severus, A. D. 192. The Irish historians dwell in
terms of rapture on his progress and battles with the Roman legions.

A. D. 200. In his reign, or immediately after it, Carbrai Rihda,
one of his sons, was sent over to Caledonia to protect it, as an Irish
province, against the threatening arms of Rome. Since the days of
Heber and Heremon, Albania, or Scotland, was partially subject to Ire-
land, acknowledging allegiance, under the memorable compact entered
into between Heremon and the Picts. Carbrai was invested by the
national assembly of Tara with some of the attributes of independence,
for the purpose of giving more satisfaction to the Albanians, who were
flattered with the idea of obtaining the semblance of an independent
prince to reign over them. Carbrai, according to Bede, commenced
the first regular attempt at an independent government in Caledonia, in
the second century. " From this leader," continues Bede, " whose
name was Riada, the posterity of those settlers are, to this day, called

308 THE CALEDONIAN COLONY PROVED TO HAVE BEEN IRISH.

Dal Reudimh, or the Irish occupiers of the part." The Abbe M'Geo-
ghegan is also positive on this point, and explains thus : " It is true that
before this time the Albanian Picts were, for centuries, tributary to the
crown of Ireland ; yet it remained for Carbrai to form the first regular
settlement in Scotland." Primate Usher, a great authority, says that
this prince reduced all Scotland under his dominion ; and O'Kennedy,
in his Chronology of the Stuart Line, published in Edinburgh, 1780,
asks, in reply to some of the Scottish writers, who contended for an
origin from the north of Europe for their ancestors — " How can the
Caledonians, in the face of the authorities of Bede and Fordun, have
the egregious folly to deny their Irish origin ?" In addition to these,
there are all the Irish historians agreeing to and asserting the same
great facts. In a most learned essay by Dr. Barnard, Protestant
bishop of Killaloe, published by Walker, in 1786, entitled an Inquiry
into the Oricrin of the Scots in Britain, which has never since been
refuted, there are detailed proofs exhibited which would alone sustain
the claim of Liiand to tl.e colonization and government of Caledonia.
We have seen that their old language and music were Irish, to which
may be added their measurements — a Scotch and Irish mile being
two thousand two hundred and forty yards, which differs from the
length of an English mile. A few extracts from the " Inquiry " may
be appropriate.

"The original of that portion of the inhabitants of Britain, property
called Scots, has been a point of history, so established by the concur-
rence of all writers on that subject, both native and foreign, from Venera-
ble Bede down to Sir George M'Kenzie, that, for a period of at least
nine hundred years, it was never esteemed matter of question, until some
late Scottish antiquarians, anxious to support an hypothesis inconsistent
with their own annals and tradition, have thought proper wholly to reject
the received opinion of their ancestors on this head, and to offer to the
public, in its place, an entire new system of their own, founded on argu-
ments of probability sufficiently plausible and ingenious, but unsupported
hy ivritien testimonies, or any authentic documents whatsoever.''^

The bishop then examines the testimonies of several learned au-
thors on the question, and quotes the Roman writer Tacitus, the
British writers Gildas, Bede, Fabius, Athelwerdus, Geojfrey of Mon-
mouth, and Fordun, Buchanan, John Major, M'Kenzie, and other
learned writers of Scotland. His quotation of the celebrated sugges-
tion of the historian Tacitus to Julius Agricola, his father-in-law, in
reference to the necessity of conquering Ireland for the purpose of ren-

EXTINCTION OF ROMAN POWEK IN BRITAIN. 309

dering the Roman empire in Britain the more secure, ^deserves our
special notice. " The intercourse between the Irish and the Caledoni-
ans, and their ancient alliances, had been further cemented when it
became their mutual interest to join their forces against the Romans —
the Caledonians to preserve their liberty, and the Irish to keep the
enemy from attacking theirs, which they were in no danger of until after
Britain was totally subdued. Tacitus, speaking of the utility of an
expedition against Ireland, to secure the Roman conquest in Britain,
adds, among other motives, ut libertas tanquam e conspectu tolleatur,
[to take away that hankering after freedom which the sight of a free ally
so near at hand would naturally excite.] This hint gives the reader to
understand that Agricola had already suffered some inconvenience from
this connection of interests. The expedition here suggested never took
place, because," adds the bishop, " that general had work enough cut
out for him by the valor of the Irish and Caledonians under Galgacus,
[Gealte Gooth] loithout crossing the sea in search of a new enemyy

After a comparison of all the accounts which the learned bishop
examined, he thus sums up : that a colony of Scots from Ireland
had anciently settled in Caledonia ; that they had several conflicts with
the Romans, after Caesar's invasion of that country ; that they were, on
one occasion, attacked by the Romans under Maximus, defeated, and
forced to abandon Britain ; that, on Maximus's leaving Britain, they
took advantage of his absence, and made fresh attempts to reinstate
themselves ; that they were again forced back by Gratianus, and obliged
to fly to Ireland ; after whose death they returned in full force, a united
army of Irish, Caledonians, and Picts, and laid waste and occupied the
country from sea to sea ; that, lastly, they established complete dominion
in Scodand, about anno 396, when the names of Caledonians and
Picts were sunk by Niall, and the general name of Scotia substituted.
And further, about the same period, the great Niall of the Nine Hostages
began his reign in Ireland, — he who vanquished the Romans in several
battles through Britain, and finally extinguished their power in that
country, after it had subsisted for four hundred years.

Cairbra Rihda had established a firm footing in Caledonia, during his
expedition, in the close of the second and beginning of the third century,
which was continued by his descendants for better than two hundred and
fifty years. Towards the middle of the fifth century, we have an ac-
count of another migration of Scots into Britain, and more settlements
obtained there. This was when Britain was totally freed from the
Romans. When the Irish made their second great settlement in the

310 LIAH FAIL, OR STONE OF DESTINY.

northern part of Britain, their armies committed excesses, which are re-
corded and deplored both by Gildas and Bede. But this was natural
in exuhing conquerors, who had been previouly harassed for ages by
legions from that soil.

From this time the settlement of the Scots (Irish) in Caledonia as-
sumed a monarchical aspect. And it appears, further, that they were
determined to have a king and government independent of the mother
country. With this object in view, they invited the monarch of Ireland,
Arcath, or Earca, to send them his son Feargus to be their king. The
proposal was accepted ; and upon this occasion did the Irish monarch
make the Scots colony a present of the famous Liak Fail, or " Stone of
Destiny," on which, from the times of Heber, the kings of Ireland were
crowned. This took place in the latter part of the fifth century. It
was the popular belief of the Irish, for many centuries, that an ille-
gitimate branch of the royal family could be detected on being placed
sitting on this stone. The policy of kings favored this delusion. On
this stone were crowned all subsequent kings of Scotland, to the time of
the conquest of that country by Edward the First of England, in the
thirteenth century, when it was carried by that prince to England, as a
precious trophy — a symbol of conquest, and deposited in Westminster
Abbey. Upon this stone, which is encased in an antique oaken
chair, all the kings of England, from that time to the present, have
been crowned and proclaimed. The learned Bishop Barnard lemarks
thus on the superstitious properties attributed to this famous relic :
" In the days of paganism, no Irish king would have parted with
such a mysterious relic ; but as Ireland was then just become Chris-
tian, vve may suppose that it was little esteemed ; though Feargus the
Second might think it would be of use to him to give his new subjects
a superstitious veneration for his person and family, and prevent them
from attempting to shake a throne thus established by fate itself."

Yet we find, amid the enlightened people of England, that their cor-
onations of their monarchs are considered incomplete — in fact, illegal —
if the kingly ceremony of sitting on this stone be omitted. Her present
majesty was crowned sitting on this old Irish stone, in Westminster
Abbey, surrounded by all the bishops, peers, chancellors, and heralds,
of her country, and by ambassadors from the courts of every civilized
country upon earth. And yet these English are the people who absurd-
ly enough sneer at the " superstitions of the ignorant Irish."

It is common in individuals, swelled by temporary affluence, to deny
connection with poor relations, no matter how respectable they may

ORIGIN OF MANY IRISH FAMILIES. 311

once have been ; so the Scotch, after boasting for nine or ten centuries
their Irish origin, turned round when Ireland had fallen in political
opulence and literary wealth, and endeavored to disown their parentage
and protection.

The only piece of Albanian Scottish historical antiquity extant is a
regal poem, much like our style,, containing a list of their kings, begin-
ning with Loam, brother to Feargus, and ending with Malcolm, the son
of Donchadh, confirming, word for word, our Irish annals.

The Scotch, then, are the Irish inhabitants of North Britain ; and as,
through the posterity of our monarchs, we gave Scotland and England a
long race of kings, it will be necessary to keep an eye on the progress
of the Milesian race in that direction.

The Mackeoghs were connected with this great line. From Cor-
mac Cos and Eogan, princes of great valor and prowess in the field,
sprang several noble families, that shine in the Irish annals — names that
fling the radiance of exalted virtue and martial renown on the pages and
the nation they adorn.

Amongst these are the M' Carthies, the O' Connells, O^ Callaghans,
O'Keeffes, O'Donohoes, O^Mahonies, O^Donovans, M Aniliffee,
O^Shee, O'Line, M'Gillicuddy, O^Gara. From the posterity of
Cormac Cas have proceeded the O^Briens, MNamaras, M'Mahons,
Kennedies, iW' Clinchies, M' Cochlins, O'Hiffernons, O' CarroUs, (princes
of Ely and Louth,) O^Rierdons, O^ Flanagans , O'Haras, O^Fogar-
tys, O'Maras, O^Machaiio, O'Caseys, O^Flynns. From the monarch
iW' Con proceeded the families of O^Driscol, (chief of the county Cork,)
O'Leary, O^Kelly, O^Bernes, O' Breogan. The very old and re-
spectable Scotch family of M^Flanchy and Campbell claim the honor
of a descent from the same ancient and honorable source.

I now return to the reign of Conaire, from which I digressed to
present the reader with a distinct view of the progress of the Mile-
sian colony in Caledonia. In doing so, I was obliged to anticipate
my narrative at least three centuries, as relates to that branch of the
subject.

In this age of Ireland's story there appeared two men, whose tran-
scendent powers — the one in arms, and the other in poetry — cannot be
passed over with ordinary haste. The first is Fion M' Cumhall, the
chief of the Leinster militia ; the second Oisin, his son, the Homer of
ancient Ireland.

First, of Fion, the military hero. The time in which he flourished
was about the year 220 of the Christian era. So great was this hero's

312 FION m'cUMHALL. THE REIGN OF CORMAC.

exploits on the field, that he was magnified, by his admiring successors,
to the size of a giant ; and all his celebrated militia were ranked by the
popular legends as giants, or men of extraordinary agility and stature.
Hence there hangs about Fioii M'CumhalVs niche, in the temple of
Fame, a romantic drapery, which renders his whole history doubtful to
those who are unwilling to believe aught that is brave or virtuous of Ire-
land in the ages of her independence. Fion was a great hero, a great
general, a great legislator, and the terror of the Roman power in Britain.
He resided chiefly on the Hill of Allen, in the county of Kildare. He
trained his militia himself; and when I relate that he was equally
the terror of the Ulster and Munster knights of his own country,
it gives no mean idea of his heroism ; but when I further state that he
made, with his fleets, no less than thirty descents on Wales, which was
then under the government of Rome, and carried from thence great spoils
of war each time, it will give some idea of his bravery and prowess.
According to all the best authorities, including Warner, the English
historian, and the solemn declaration of the Gaelic Society of Dublin,
published through its Transactions, " Fion, the renowned general-in-
chief of the Irish militia, was son of Cumhall and Murin, who was daugh-
ter of Thady, son of Nuadh, the ' white monarch of Ireland.' He was
son-in-law to King Cortnac, and grandson to Con of the Hundred Battles.
His two sons, Oisin and Feargus, by the Irish princess, were renowned
in arts and arms. Feargus Fair Lips, figuratively meaning of sublime
diction, has been emphatically styled the 'philosophic poet of pointed
expression.' " So far from the Transactions of the Gaelic Society.

Warner says, in reference to the Leinster militia, " That great body
of heroes, the Irish militia, was commanded by Fian, the gallant son of
Cumhall, who was married to the daughter of Cormac Cas." All this
it is necessary to place on the record, as there was a dispute about the
hero's country. The great poet Oisin has left behind him a fragment
of his composition, which has sailed down the stream of time to us.
In it are discoverable the fire, the genius, and the well-stored mind, of
one whom Ireland may proudly rank against the loftiest talent of the
past ages, or of that in which he lived. For a full account of Oisin, see
page 168.

THE REIGN OF CORMAC.

Two hundred and fifty-five years after the birth of Christ, the court
of Tara was adorned by one of the most enlightened and brilliant of the
Milesian princes — the monarch Cormac His road to the throne lay-
through hostile legions ; yet he had address, skill, and bravery sufficieat

REFORMS OF CORMAC. 313

for the design. Being a legitimate prince of one of the rival houses of
the southern hue, his claims to power were supported by a valorous
ai'my, in which there commanded the celebrated hero Lugha, who, in
the heat of battle, slew, with his own hand, Feargus, the rival prince,
annihilating thus all further impediment to the exaltation of Cormac.
That prince was crowned, with an unusual degree of splendor, on the
Stone of Destiny, at Tara, anno 255. It was the most brilliant coro-
nation that had taken place for many previous centuries. More than a
hundred Druids of the first class assisted in the gorgeous ceremonies, and
a hundred bards chanted the inaugural salutation, mingling with their
voice the tones of instrumental music.

Having reached the summit of his ambition, he immediately directed
his attention to the state of the laws, and the administration of justice
throughout the kingdom. The law^s, which had greatly accumulated
from the reign of OUamh Fodhla, were all reviewed, purified, digested,
and condensed. Any that were deemed in the slightest degree inequi-
table were abolished, and a code of jurisprudence was established, which
remained in force from that time, say Warner and others, to the end of
the monarchical dynasty of the Milesians, in the twelfth century. Dr.
Warner says of him, " The ordinances which he established for the
public good, which are yet to be seen in the old Irish records, and which
show his great skill in the laws and antiquities of his country, were never
abolished whilst the Irish regal government had existence."

These laws were so much approved of by the people, and by their
leaders in the national assembly, that they were denominated the will
of Heaven, or celestial judgments, and it was ruled a treason or sacrilege
to attempt to change any portion of them ; so true was it ever that
no people in the world loved justice more than the Irish — a trait in
their character remarked on, fourteen centuries later, by Lord Coke, Sir
John Davies, and many other English jurists.

Cormac applied himself also to the regulation of the religious cere-
monials of the people, and, for this purpose, summoned to Tara a great
number of the Druids from all parts of Ireland, and, at the same time,
convoked the various orders of learned doctors for the purpose of revising
the history of the country, and establishing improved regulations for the
administration of public instruction. The concentration in Tara of so
many men, eminent for their great literary acquirements, rendered the
court of Cormac the most brilliant in Europe at the time, and not in-
ferior, indeed, to the courts of the Roman emperors. The monarch also
encouraged poetry and music, and was not insensible to the enchant-
40

314 COKMAC'S MAGNIFICENCE.

ments of the social circle. Though he attended to the sober business
of legislation and jurisprudence with the grave, he mingled, in seasons
of festivity, with the gay and chivalrous. He encouraged, with lavish
hand, every art and science. He had the old palace of Tara, and hall
of assembly, which were erected principally of oak, pulled down, and a
magnificent palace and legislative hall of marble erected on the site.
It was deemed the most elegant structure in Europe ; there were many
grand entrances to it, and one hundred and fifty richly-carved marble
columns graced those entrances and piazzas on every side. Torna
Eigis, who wrote in the fourth century, says, that " the marble statues
of two hundred Irish kings, princes, and generals, adorned the niches
of the halls of Tara." Whilst these great works were in progress,
the royal establishment removed to Miodh-Cuarto, in West Meath.
When they were at length completed, they were a source of extreme
delight to the people, and to strangers, for many came from other
countries to admire them. Several hundred bed-chambers were fitted
up for the accommodation of foreign visitors, and fifteen hundred per-
sons sat down daily at the royal tables. W^e are further assured that
the monarch and his guests were waited on by one hundred and
fifty knights of noble blood, whilst the meats were mosdy served in
gold and silver. The music of a hundred minstrels, mingling with
the ceremonies of these banquets, must have flung over all the illu-
sion of enchantment.

As if nothing were deficient in this splendid group, the monarch was
blessed with three sons, and ten daughters, the most beautiful and ac-
complished in the land, whose animating presence in all these courtly
scenes must have added to the magic that abided around his person.

Dr. Warner concludes his notice of this monarch in the following
words: "There never had been a monarch on the throne of Ireland
who was attended by such a numerous retinue. The great guard, con-
sisting of the flower of the Irish army, always on duty in the palace, and
the other ensigns and distinctions of royalty which he had about him,
which were equal to the dignity of the greatest princes of that time,
made the court of this monarch the theme of universal fame. What
added something to its lustre was his numerous issue — three sons, of
great renown in arms, and ten daughters, of distinguished beauty and
rare accomplishments."

The king's eloquence in the national assembly ; his skill in military
affiiirs ; his profound acquaintance with the laws, literature, and history,
of his country ; his magnificent architectural erections ; his refined man-

SUCCESSES OF FION m'cUMHALL AGAISNT THE ROMANS. 315

ners, elegant hospitality, lavish encouragement of science and art ; and
the minute attention he paid to the wants and welfare of the people, to
the improvement and defence of the country, — contributed to imbody a
ruler that may be weighed against a Solon, a Pericles, a Lycurgus, an
Augustus, an Alfred, or a Charlemagne ; a Louis Fourteenth, a Fred-
erick, or against any that any age or kingdom has given to man-
kind.

Cormac caused a law to pass the assembly which made it imperative
on every future monarch of Ireland to keep about his person a discreet
nobleman, of Milesian blood, with whom he could confidently converse ;
a pious Druid, to direct him in matters of conscience ; a chief hrehon,
(judge,) to assist him in his judicial decisions ; a physician, to attend to
his health ; a poet, to record his mihtary exploits ; a musician, to stimu-
late his spirits ; an antiquarian, to explain historical mysteries ; and three
treasurers, to collect his revenues. These offices were religiously con-
tinued, by the Irish kings, for the remaining thousand years of their
power ; and, more remarkable, they were transferred to the English
court by King Alfred the Great, together with the entire framework of
the jurisprudence of Ireland. Many, if not all, the offices of Cormac
are still preserved in the court of the British monarch, from immemorial
usage. The present keeper of Queen Victoria's conscience is that
charitable, moral, and conscientious personage, the learned Lord Chan-
cellor Lyndhurst; and the remaining officers now (1844) about her
person, contrary, I presume, to her majesty's desire, are of a similar
character.

In the reign of Feargus, the predecessor and rival of Cormac, Fion
iVf Cumhall, the renowned general of the Leinster militia, whom I have
already introduced to the reader, had been despatched, with a consider-
able army, to the Dalriadian colony in Caledonia, for the purpose of
protecting it from the aggressive invasions of the Romans. Fion, having
belonged to the party of the fallen monarch, whose cause he had warmly
espoused against Cormac and his father, was not on terms of friendship
with the present king. Notwithstanding this, he sent an ambassador to
Connac's court, acquainting him with his perilous condition ; for his army
had been seriously diminished by various battles with the Romans, whilst
the army of the enemy had been considerably augmented. Cormac,
though he entertained no kindly feelings towards Fion, sent him a strong
reenforcement, placing the entire command in his hands. Fion, thus
recruited, attacked the Roman legions, and caused them to fly before
him to the centre of Britain. In this brilliant campaign, Oisin, the poet,

316 REVOLT. CORMAC'S ABDICATION IN FAVOR OF HIS SON.

the son of Fion, distinguished himself by deeds of great bravery. Hav-
ing gone at some little length into the character of Oisin in my section
devoted to the " Bards," I refrain from any remark on the topic here.

Whilst victory crowned the arms of Cormac abroad, his internal affairs
ran unpleasantly. The great expenses which he had incurred in build-
ing the magnificent palace and house of assembly of Tara, and in sup-
porting a most costly regal establishment, compelled him to raise large
revenues on the people. He established, for this purpose, new tributes,
which, as they ever do, begot plenty of discontent and opposition.
These led to treasons and plots; and so Cormac, notwithstanding his
equity, wisdom, and talents, found himself successively engaged in war
with the people of Leinster, Munster, and Connaught. In an engage-
ment with the army of the latter, he lost an eye, which rendered him in-
capable of exercising longer the functions of monarch ; for it was con-
trary to the law of Ireland for any prince who had received a serious
blemish in his person to remain on the throne.

Ere Cormac resigned the throne to his son and successor Eochaidh,
he publicly declared his belief in the existence of a supreme God, and
renounced the absurd woi-ship of the sun, whjch prevailed in Ireland
for fifteen centuries. This, as might be expected, caused a mighty
sensation in Ireland. The Druids immediately became his enemies ; but
he removed them from the palace, and they never after resumed their
accustomed power in Ireland. His son Eochaidh was crowned on the
Stone of Destiny, at which ceremony the accustomed aid of the Druids
was dispensed with. This was the greatest blow against their power.
As a matter of course, they conspired against Cormac. He had now,
after a reign of twenty-three years, retired to a cottage in Meath, near
the royal palace, where he was consulted by politicians, princes, and
literary men, upon all matters and things interesting to them ; " For,"
says the Gaelic Society of Dublin, '-' Cormac was transcendently pre-
eminent above all others for his profound knowledge in the antiquity
and jurisprudence of his country. The schools he endowed, the books
he composed, and the laws he established, bear unquestionable tes-
timony of his munificence, wisdom, and learning."

In that cottage he wrote his Advice to Princes, addressed to his son
Carbre Eochaidh, an able work, that still exists in the possession of
the O'Halloran family of Limerick. There he also revised the Psalter
of Tara, enlarged by commentary on Ollamh Fodhla's treatise on law.
The Druids, determined to crush his influence, preached against his
heresy, and incited the people, and even the monarch, his son, against

DEATH OF COHMAC. MEETING ON THE HILL OF TARA. 317

him. They induced Eochaidh to issue a proclamation calling on all
princes, ollamhs, and people, to come and worship Baal (the sun) on
a certain day. This was a net to catch Cormac, but he regarded it
not ; he remained in his cottage ; they complained to the king of the
act of contumacy, upon which he advised them to bring the image
representing the sun to the presence of Cormac, and call upon him to
worship. The arch-Druid and four others accordingly earned the
idol to the house of the king, whom they found engaged in prayer to
the supreme God. On entering into Cormac's presence, they set up
their idol on a tripod, and then fell down before it in worship. Cor-
mac took little notice of their ceremonies. The arch-Druid soon arose,
and questioned Cormac " why he refijsed to adore as his fathers did."
He replied, that " the Deity whom he worshipped could, with a breath,
extinguish the sun and stars, dry up the ocean, and sink the universe
beneath its bed." The Druids felt deeply mortified at this reply, on
receiving which they retired, vowing vengeance on the abdicated
monarch.

On the evening ensuing this meeting, Cormac was choked by a fish-
bone, at supper, and the Druids were greatly rejoiced thereat. Some
writers have accused them of poisoning him. Thus died this extraordi-
nary man, the first amongst the pagan Irish who intuitively perceived,
through the profound medium of his philosophy, the existence of a
Creator, in the extent, mechanism, and regularity, of his works. Pos-
terity has designated him " Cormac the Lawgiver." In the sixth century,
St. CoUimb Kille discovered the tomb of Cormac, at Cruachan, in the
county Roscommon, The saint erected a church over the royal grave,
the ruins of which are yet to be seen.

Dr. Warner further says of this great man, '' King Cormac had con-
\nnced himself of the absurdities of idolatry upon principles of philosophic
reason ; and had he hved but a little longer, it is probable that pagan-
ism would have been extinct in Ireland before the introduction of Chris-
tianity, and that the original theology and patriarchal worship would
have been restored."

Of the magnificent court which he erected on the eminence called
Tarn Hill there is not now a stone together. This far-famed hill is
about sixteen miles from the city of Dublin. It was the theatre, for
countless generations, of the deeds of the Milesian kings and senates.
It is a spot consecrated, hallowed, in the memories of the Irish people.
The fall of Tara is associated in their minds with the fall of their country
— with its subjection to the stranger.

318 MEETING ON THE HILL OF TARA.

It was here, in 1798, that a desperate battle was fought between
the United Irishmen and the British troops, in which the former were
defeated. Upwards of two hundred of the United men who fell in the
eno^agement were buried in one large grave on this eminence. And
on this consecrated spot was held the monster meeting of August,
1843, at which the Liberator, Daniel O'Connell, presided. That
meeting will be memorable in Irish history throughout all ages. Up-
wards of a million of human beings gathered at the call of O'Connell,
to petition for the restoration of their parliament. They were attended
to the ground by the clergymen of their respective parishes! The
holy sacrifice of the mass was offered up by these priests over the
" Croppy's Grave," and the multitude knelt in prayer for the reception
into the mansions of the Eternal of the souls of those who fell at that
memorable battle ; and then they proceeded to the passing of resolu-
tions declaring that no other power, save the king, lords, and commons,
of Ireland, had, or by right ought to have, any power to make laws to
bind Ireland.

There did not occur at this meeting a single accident, insult, outrage,
or quarrel of any kind ; nor was there a single drunken person seen
amongst the million that gathered there — a thing unparalleled in the
whole history of mankind.

MUSIC AND POETRY.

319

TARA'S OLD GREEN.

BY T. MOONEY.

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Did you hear of the meeting on Tara's old Green,* Where

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twelve hundred thousand were there to be seen, With their

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lead-ers so brave, and their shamrocks so green?* O' -

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stood on the ru - ins of Ta - ra's old hall. And he

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called on the mil - lions to kneel on the sod,f Which

* This was the greatest meeting ever held in Ireland, or, perhaps, in any other
country. It took place on the 13th of August, 1843, on the hill of Tara, (distant
fifteen miles from Dublin,) on the site of the palaces of the former kings of Ire-
land ; and its object was to demand the restoration of the Irish parliament. The
Irish papers make the number that assembled twelve hundred thousand, while the
reporters of the English press fix the number at eight hundred thousand. But, ad-
mitting the middle number, of a million, as the most correct, it was the greatest
meeting known to history. There did not take place at this meeting a single ac-
cident, insult, or disturbance, during that memorable day.

t In the insurrection of 1798, several hundred men fell on this hill. A great
number were buried in one large grave on the side of it, which is called the
" Croppy's Grave." On this mausoleum of patriotism the people knelt to pray, on
the morning of that memorable meeting.

^p=p=

MUSIC AND POETRY.

T-

p w p,

cov - ered the he - roes who fought for their God, Their

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coun - try, their free - dom, and shamrocks so green.

The eyes of all Europe looked on in amaze
On the fire of Liberty's beautiful blaze,

That rose from the mountain where Patrick had been ; *
And the Saxon stood palsied in awe at the sight;
He said very little, just then, about fight,
For he knew that the hearts of the valiant and brave
Would never submit to the chains of the slave,

In the land of Saint Patrick and shamrocks so green '

3.
And the harp of old Tara, half silent so long.
Which breathed, neglected, its mournful song,

Strikes the music of Liberty over the main,
And proclaims the first gem of the earth and the sea
Shall ever again be great, glorious, and free !
For millions have vowed they are ready to bleed
In defence of old Erin, and freedom of creed,

Her parliament rights, and her shamrocks so green !

4.
Then hurrah for the men who assembled that day !
To drive all the tyrant oppressors away

From the hill where our parliament ever had been.
And, hurrah for their friends, that live over the sea'.f
Who are struggling so hard to set Ireland free !
And may their exertions with triumph be crowned;
And the proud name of Erin be honored all round,

As a nation of freemen and shamrocks so green.

* St. Patrick preached the gospel on this hill to the pagan king Logaire, whom
with all his court, he converted, in the year 434.
t The American repealers.

MUSIC AND POETRY.

321

And hurrah for O'Connell ! who spoke to them all !

Who stood on the ruins of Tara's old hall,
When a million of patriots knelt on the green !

And they sent up a prayer, that's registered in heaven,

And the chains of their tyrants will shortly be riven ;

And music shall echo the shouts of the free !

And the harps of old Tara sing, over the sea,
Long live the shillelahsj and shamrocks so green!

NOTHING IN LIFE CAN SADDEN US.

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322

MUSIC AND POETRr.

TRUE LOVE CAN NE'ER FORGET.

WORDS BY rURLONG. MUSIC BY LOVER.

Founded on the fact related of Carolan, the Irish bard, that, after his loss of sigkt^
and the lapse of twenty years, he recognized his first love by the touch of her hand.

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Tenderlt, but not too Slow.

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when we met ; Dear - est, I love thee yet,

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My dar - ling one ! " Thus sang a min - strel gray

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His sweet, im - passioned lay, Down by the ocean's spray,

MUSIC AND POETRY.

323

2==P

At rise of sun. But withered was the

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minstrel's sight ; Morn to him was dark as night

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Fond - ly as when we met;

Dear - est, I

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324

MUSIC AND POETRY.

"Long years are past and o'er
Since, from this fatal shore,
Cold hearts and cold winds bore

My love from me."
Scarcely the minstrel spoke,
When, quick, with flashing stroke,
A boat's light oar the silence broke

Over the sea.
Soon, upon her native strand,
Doth a lovely lady land ;
While the minstrel's love-taught hand

Did o'er his sweet harp run,
"True love can ne'er forget, &ic.

Where the minstrel sat alone,
There that lady fair hath gone ;
Within his hand she placed her own:

The bard dropped on his knee;
From his Up soft blessings came;
He kissed her hand, with truest flame;
In trembling tones he named her name,

Though her he could not see.
But, O ! the touch, the bard could tell,
Of that dear hand, remembered well.
Ah ! by many a secret spell,

Can true love trace his own '
For true love can ne'er forget,
Fondly as when they met;
He loved his lady yet,

His darling one.

LECTURE X.

FROM A. D. 279 TO 500.
SECTION I.

Reign of Carbrc. — Leinstcr Militia. — Their Constitution. — Qualifications. — Obli-
gations. — Number. — Comniande s. — Garrisons. — Discipline. — Names of the
Legions. — Population of Ireland n that Age. — War with Denmark. — Triumph.

— Civil Wars at Home. — Destru^,tion of the Leinster Militia. — Origin of several
Irish Families. — Niall of the Nine Hostages. — Irish Government in Caledonia.

— Prowess of Niall in Caledonia. — Forces the Roman Wall. — Capture of Pa-
tricius. — Death of Niall. — Reign of Datliy. — Brilliant Victories over the
Roman Legions. — Evacuation by the Romans of Britain and Gaul. — Position
and Condition of Ireland at this Period. — Ireland the Athens of Europe.

— Accounted for. — Proved by the Admissions of British Writers. — Opinions
of Sir James Mackintosh, Dr. Warner, Toland, Camden, Whitakcr, Stilliniflleet.

— The pagan Worship of the ancient Irish. — Comparison with that of Rome
and Greece in coeval Ages.

We have seen, in the preceding pages, the advance of arts, sciences,
and literature, in Ireland, ere yet the meridian rays of the Ciiristian
religion had illumined her oak-covered hills. We are now approaching
that epoch in her history, when her military glory and her Christian
works shine in bright reflections on the page ; and, if all the original
spirit of our Milesian fathers be not killed within us by the unhealthy
atmosphere of a selfish age, the trumpet-call of freedom in behalf of
that suffering land shall be answered over the Atlantic by the proud
impulses of our devoted hearts ; and that country which was, in other
ages, the land of the free and the home of the brave, shall, by the
united efforts of her scattered children, be again restored to her rank
amid the nations —

" Great, glorious, and free,

The fii-st flower of tlie earth,

And tirst gem of the sea,"

Anno 279, we find Carbre, the son of Cormac, on the Irish throne,
exhibiting in his government all the virtues of his father. He had the

326 LEINSTER MILITIA. THEIR CONSTITUTION.

history and antiquities of Ireland carefully revised, and some additions
made to the national code of laws. About this time, a celebrated Irish
hero, Curausius, had raised himself so high in the Roman emperor's
confidence, that he was sent to Britain to govern as the lieutenant of
Rome. Here he obtained the affections of the people, and finally
assumed the purple, the symbol of imperial authority. Rome, be-
coming alarmed at this, sent forces to depose him. He applied to the
Irish monarch for aid, which he obtained, and then successfully resisted
Rome until his death, which, it is said, was effected by assassins.

It was in this age that the famous Leinster militia was broken up
and dispersed. The history of that celebrated corps deserves a special
place in our memory. On the ancient partition of Ireland between
Heber and Heremon, the different orders of the people were also
divided, and lands were assigned to the chiefs and princes, on the con-
dition that each should support a stipulated number of armed troops, to
attend the prince when called on. The land thus disposed of was
called ftaran an chidheamh, or " sword land."

Here was the origin of military tenures in Europe.

These troops were divided into legions called catha. Each catha
contained three thousand men ; every thousand was commanded by a
fear comhlan mile, or " the commander of one thousand," who had
under him ten captains, twenty lieutenants, and forty sergeants. The
captain was called fear comhlan cead, or " the commander of one
hundred," and so on. The commander of the legion was named
faioseach an catha, or " governor of the legion." To each legion was
appointed a proper number of physicians and surgeons, afid these were
the most eminent of the different universities of the kingdom.

None were admitted into these legions but men of large stature,
without any deformity of person ; they must be versed in history and
poetry ; they must be perfect in the use of arms. Each soldier must
be able to clear at once any wall as high as himself, and to run under
the branch of a tree as low as his knee without relaxing his pace.
He was bound singly not to fly from nine armed men. Those legions
were the children of the state, and it required interest to become one
of the body. Another condition was that, before enrolling, the parents
and friends of each candidate were to swear not to revenge his death,
if slain, but to leave it to the general. Such was the constitution
and material of Fion's celebrated legion, the Leinster militia.

The force of the whole kingdom at this time was eighty-four thousand
fighting men. Each provincial king had his seven legions, of three

GARRISONS OF THE LEINSTER MILITIA. DISCIPLINE. 327

thousand men to each legion ; besides this, the chief prince of Tara'had
his seven legions. The chief commander of each provincial army was
called righ thine, or " king of the soldiery ; " and to him they swore
fidelity and allegiance. The marshal was named iuargna catha;
and their pay was made ouf in clothes, money, and provisions, as had
been established by the Irish monarch Seadhna, who reigned in Ireland
seven centuries before the Christian era.

From November to May, they were quartered on the country, each
house supplying a soldier -with certain necessaries. In summer, they
were obliged to support themselves by fishing and hunting. From
May to November, they were ordered to the different duns, or stations,
established to give proper notice should an enemy approach. There
was one of these old duns, or garrison forts, in the Bay of Tralee,
one at the mouth of the Casin, in the county of Kerry, also one at
Jnis Catha, or Scattery, and some other places in the county Lim-
erick. Rath Conan, in Limerick, still retains the name of its governor,
to wit, the famous Conan Maol; and many similar instances could be
quoted. Such soldiers as were not on particular duty, or service,
were employed in great hunting matches, where the chase preserved
them in health and vigor, and supplied part of their wants.

The red deer was then numerous in the mountains of Ireland ; they
were very large, fleet, and fierce. We have yet several glowing relations
of those famous hunts about the romantic district in which the lakes of
Killarney are situated ; and Killarney itself is immortalized in the books
of travellers for its stag hunts, which are yet continued with great spirit
by some of the old Milesians, whose patriotism and spirit not all the
powers of England could subdue.

Neither ancient nor modern history can furnish a more complete and
formidable military institution than this. Men arrived at the highest
degree of military discipline previous to their reception into the army.
Not only expert at annoying an enemy, but equally so in defending
themselves, — not only animated to the fight by their natural courage,
but raised higher by the swelling sounds of music, and animated into
heroism by the songs of the bards, — a military body thus trained
up must have been formidable ; and so indeed they were. Those
legions were denominated after the services they performed against the
common enemy, Rome. Thus the Irish forces kept up in Albion or
Scotland were called Jine Alhin, or Albanian legions ; the legions
in Gaul were called fine Gaul,

This constant exercise of the Irish military will explain very clearly

328 WAR WITH DENMARK. CIVIL WARS AT HOME.

not only why they kept their own country free from foreign insult
or domination, but why, also, they were enabled to pour their troops
on the continent, and why, in the days of Caesar, and of successive
Roman generals, they led on the troops of Britain and Scotland.

By the military returns of this age we can estimate the population
of Ireland at four millions and a half

In this reign, the celebrated Moghcorb ruled over Munster: his
mother was a princess of Denmark, called Ilcrothach, or the " A\\-love-
lyj' The two brothers of this princess flew to Ireland, to look for aid
from their nephew, to push the usurper of their father's throne from
his unjustly-acquired eminence. Influenced by his mother, he pre-
pared a large fleet; and, with a select body of troops taken out
of the Munster and Leinster militia, he invaded Denmark. The
Danes prepared to meet him. The battle was fierce, bloody, and well
fought. The superior bravery and discipline of the L'ish at length
prevailed. The Danes were totally defeated. There fell, on the Danish
side, the usurper of Denmark, his four sons, and four brothers, be-
sides numbers of his commanders, and three thousand of his soldiers.
Moghcorb caused his two uncles to be proclaimed joint kings of Den-
mark, exacted tribute from the Danes for the expenses of his war, and
returned home crowned with glory. This brilliant achievement was
the theme of the bards and antiquarians for many years.

The fame of Moghcorb naturally begot the enmity of other princes
of his own country, which blew up at last, under one pretence or
another, to open hostilities ; and, unhappily, we are pained to read
of those brilliant arms, which won such trophies abroad, turned by Irish
heroes on each other. Carbre, the prince of Ulster, led on his forces
towards Munster, the territory of Moghcorb. The contending armies
met on the plains of Meath, near Tara. The Leinster and Connaught
militia, since the days of Con, were enemies or rivals. The entire
forces of both provinces appeared under arms that day, and, as neither
knew fear or thought of retreating, it became a total carnage on both
sides. Of Fion's troops not one escaped, but Oisin, the father of
Osgur, and the Clana Morni, or Connaught troops, experienced the
same dreadful fate. Osgur, the general, after performing prodigies of
valor, fell by the sword of Carbre, the king of Ulster; and he, in
return, met the same fate from the arm of the great Moghcorb. This
battle was fought A. D. 295.

The only princes who survived this dreadful day were the hero
Moghcorb, and Aodth, king of Connaught ; and the latter, the

NIALL OF THE NINE HOSTAGES. 329

year after, raised a new army, engaged Moghcorb at Spaltrach, on
the borders of Munster, in which action the gallant Moghcorb fell,
anno 296. The Leinster militia were thus totally destroyed. Osgur,
their general, was killed. Osgur was the son of Oisin, who lost his
eyes in the battle ; and Oisin, as I have said, was the son of Fion
3r Cumhall. This band of heroes was totally extinguished by that
misfortune. The Munster militia, which was revived by Loghcorb,
continued to exist for many centuries after.

Anno 300, Fiacha, of Connaught, was called to the throne. From the
son of this prince are the Clana Neill and their tribe, in Connaught, de-
scended. From his brother descended the three CoJIas, who were the
progenitors of several noble families in Ireland. From the eldest, or
Colla-nas, came the MDonncls, both of Scotland and Ireland ; the
M'Douel, or Doyles, the IWRorys, the Clan Isithigh, or O'Sheehies ;
the Clan Chirrins, or O^Kerins, O'Gniefes. From Colla dha Criock,
the second son, sprang the M'Mahons of Orgial; the M^Quines of
Fermanagh, O'Hanlan, MAnaigh, MManus, MEgan, O'Kellt/,
O^Madin, or Madigan, O'Nealan. Of the posterity of the third son
there is no record.

These brothers had engaged in the local struggles of their country,
which kept her in trouble and civil wars for better than half a century ;
during which the celebrated palace of Amania, the seat of the Ulster
princes for eight centuries, — the home of bards and heroes for many
an age, — was sacked and burned. Though it was never after habita-
ble, its venerated ruins were discernible in the last century.

Several monarchs succeeded those princes, whose deeds were of the
average character. But we light on the reign of Eochaidh, anno
359, to whom a son was born named Niall, aftenvards surnamed
" of the nine hostages." After a troublesome reign, Eochaidh died,
and the choice of a successor produced great excitement. At length
the vote of the estates of Tara fell upon the young Niall, who, though
opposed with great vigor, even by the swords of his rivals, was at
length triumphant. Some invasions and troubles arising in Scotland
between the L'ish settlements there and the Romans on the Biitish
side of the border, the monarch Niall went over with a large force.
The troubles were subdued, the colonists submitted, and acknowledged
that all Scotland, except that part north of the Friths of Clyde and
Forth, was subject to the Irish monarch, to be governed by laws made
by the parent power in Ireland. Hume, the historian of England,
acknowledges this. He says, " In very ancient language, Scotland
42

330 IRISH GOVERNMENT EXTENDED TO CALEDONIA.

means only the country north of the Friths of the Clyde and Forth.
I shall not," he continues, "make a parade of literature to prove it,
because I do not find that the Scots themselves dispute the point."

Niall settled the boundaries on this occasion, calling the entire of
Caledonia Scotia, after the parent and governing country, Ireland. It
ought to be remarked that Ireland was originally called Scotia in honor
of Scoto, the -mother of the Milesian princes Heber and Heremon.*

Having thus setded all dissensions, Niall, at the solicitation of some
Saxon tribes, agreed to help them to subdue the Roman power in Britain.
And accordingly we find him prepare an immense army, including
Irish, Picts, and Saxons, at the head of which he forced the celebrated
Roman wall, attacked the Roman cities, and compelled them to pay
tribute ; after which he returned to Ireland in great triumph.

As the Romans had been oppressive to Saxon tribes in Gaul, a mes-
senger from the latter appeared at the Irish court, to solicit the powerful
aid of Niall in coercing them ; and here again our great Niall showed
himself a distinguished hero. He prepared an expedition against the
Romans, who then held Gaul in subjection. He landed on the borders
of Brittany, laid waste the Roman setdements, and came home loaded
with spoils and treasure, together with several captives, amongst whom
was the youth that became afterwards the apostle St. Patrick.

Much discussion has arisen among writers about the place of the
saint's birth. The best authorities, and the most numerous, too, agree
that he was a Gaulish captive, taken to Ireland by Niall. He
might have been born in Wales, for his family came from Wales to
Brittany ; the Book of Lecan says his mother was a Frank, and that
she was sister of St. Martin, bishop of Tours. One thing is admitted
by all, namely, that he and his two sisters were taken as captives to
L'eland by Niall, and sold as such, according to the custom of those
days. This invasion and caption took place anno 388.

Niall, on his return to Ireland, found his kingdom suffering under trou-
bles ; which having settled, he prepared a great force to make a second
descent on Gaul. To this end he summoned the leaders and chiefs of
his people to Tara, and had present at the assembly deputies from
Scotia Minor, who all unanimously resolved to support him in his enter-
piise against the Romans in Gaul ; and with an immense force he
entered that country, and, finding little resistance, marched through
the provinces, and encamped on the banks of the Loire, where,
however, in the midst of his triumphant career, he met his death by an
arrow shot at him from an assassin. His army reembarked, taking with
* It was also called Erne, Hybernia, and Irland.

REIGN OF DATHY. 331

them his dead body, which was interred in Ireland with great pomp,
" He was called the hero of the nine hostages,'^ says Hutchinson, "be-
cause he compelled nine nations to send him hostages. No monarch
carried the glory of the Irish arms farther than Niall. He drove the
Romans out of Caledonia, and pursued them to the banks of the Loire,
in Gaul." These hostages were covered with golden fetters.

As the posterity of Niall of the Nine Hostages made a most distin-
guished figure in our history, and as, from his house, for almost six
centuries, the monarchs of Ireland were chosen, with a single instance
excepted, it is proper to say something of his posterity : Niall had eight
sons, four of whom remained in Meath and its neighborhood ; the others
acquired possessions in the north of Ireland. The issue of these eight
sons have been distinguished by the titles of Northern and Southern
Ai Nialls. From the southern branch have descended O^Sionach,
or Fox, lord of TafF; Magauly, Mag. Caren, O'Braoin, O' Qtiin, and
O^Daly; also O^Kindelan. From these four southern brothers, whose
territories lay in the very centre of Ireland, came the O'Malochlins, the
M' Geoghagans, and the O^Molloys. Of the northern line, Eogan, or
Eon, the fifth son, got the great tract of country known as Tir Connal,
or Tir Eon ; for the tract was formerly Connal's. Connal's tract goes
yet by the name of Tir Connel, and the chiefs of this house assumed
the name of O^Donnel from a celebrated ancestor so called.

Anno 420. On the death of Niall, his nephew, Dathy, ascended
the Irish throne. Several refugees from Roman persecution having
fled from Gaul and Britain to Ireland, they besought him to render
them assistance. At the head of a powerful army, he landed in North
Britain, where he broke down the Roman wall, drove their forces before
him out of Britain, passed with his victorious army over to Gaul, where
he subdued the recruited legions of Rome throughout that kingdom,
and chased them to the very foot of the Alps ; at which point, unfor-
tunately, he was killed by lightning.

This brilliant chapter in the history of the Milesian race took place
in the year of Christianity 428. The Roman power was now com-
pletely extinguished in Britain. The successes of Dathy gave other
nations courage to attack Rome in every direction, until, at length, her
provinces broke away from her, one after the other. She broke up at
the extremities, and fell, after she had persecuted mankind for seven
hundred years. Even so will that great race, whose true Milesian
blood still streams through millions upon millions of brave Irishmen,
— even so will that brave blood, which exudes its aspiring and uncon-

332 POSITION AND CONDITION OF IRELAND AT THIS PERIOD.

querable spirit into every generation, — survive the fall and dispersion
cf the piratical aristocracy of England. And " when the future travel-
ler from New Zealand shall visit London, and, standing upon the single
remaining arch of its last bridge, view from that spot the ruins of
St. Paul's," — the sacred island, which nourished that blood, for count-
less generations, with a miraculous vitality, shall herself be then " the
land of the free and the home of the brave."

It is necessary to keep in strong relief before the public eye that
Ireland, even under the pagan system, was the school of Western Eu-
rope. Here were preserved, with a religious exactitude, the histories of
contemporary nations, and also an elaborate history of Ireland, her
laws, literature, science, &c. Here the Gauls, Franks, Britons, Welsh,
the Picts, and the Germans, came to study. Three principal circum-
stances contributed to this — First, the nations of Europe were constantly
agitated and disturbed by the depredations of the Romans, for better
than seven hundred years, which drove the studious to Ireland, the only
spot in Europe where their persons and properties were safe from out-
rage, — the only spot in Europe that preserved its independence of
Roman sway. An evidence of this is singularly offered in the names
of the several tracts of land yielded by the hospitable Irish to those
refugees, which retain their names to this day. In the county Limerick,
they have Gall Baile, or the " Gauls' Town," Baile na Francoigh, or
the " Franks' Town," and so. of other places. I have already shown that
the persons and properties of the ollamhs, or doctors of learning, the
bards, and Druids, were ever held most sacred by the contending fac-
tions in Ireland. It was deemed a sacrilege to assault, kill, or invade
the property of any of them.

Secondly., the original settlers, under the sons of Milesius, brought
with them the chief arts and sciences known in ancient Egypt, and
the knowledge of manufactures, and of the arts of dyeing, and working
metals, which were known in Tyre, then the queen city of the world.
This is proved by various incontestable evidences, which I have already
arrayed in the early pages of this book.

Thirdly, the equable and healthful climate of Ireland, its fruitful and
luxuriant fields, its delicious air and water, the sweetness and richness
of its provisions, its romantic recesses, time-honored by the study of the
bards and Druids, — all these circumstances would conspire to attract the
studious to its inviting bosom. And when, as admitted by St. Patrick
himself, he found the Druids possessed of a thorough knowledge of all
things then known to mankind, — when he found them well versed in

ADMISSIONS OF BRITISH WRITERS. 333

the languages, customs, arts, and histories, of the Eastern nations, and
well acquainted with the features and dogmas of Christianity, — we can
then estimate the true character of that people amongst whom St. Patrick
appeared to preach the Crucified.

Here, in support of what I have now advanced, let me present again
the testimony of the eminent historians of the present and past century.

Sir James Mackintosh, who was familiar with the past and pres-
ent features of man's history ; whose philosophic eye penetrated the
recesses of nature and of science, and swept over creation's wide do-
main, subjecting all to his inquiry and comment; the advocate of
civil and religious liberty; the companion of Henry Brougham, — he,
the monarch of the Edinburgh Review, honored Scotland by his birth ;
honored England by his learning; honored literature by his genius;
honored Ireland by the honesty of his testimony to her ancient great-
ness and learning; and he honored humanity by his moral worth.
Stand forth, thou shining light of the present century, and tell the
world what Ireland was in ages past I " The chronicles of Ireland,"
says he, "written in the Irish language, from the second century to
the landing of Henry Plantagenet, have been recently published,
with the fullest evidences of their genuineness and exactness. The
Irish nation, though they are robbed of many of their favorite legends
by this authentic publication, are yet by it enabled to boast that they
possess genuine history several centuries more ancient than any other
European nation possesses, in its present spoken language. They
have exchanged their legendary antiquity for historical fame. Indeed,
no other nation possesses any monument of its literature, which goes
back within several centuries of the beginning of those chronicles.
Some of Dr. O'Conor's readers may hesitate to admit the degree
of culture and prosperity he claims for his countrymen ; but no one, 1
think, can deny, after perusing his proofs, that the Irish loere a let-
tered people ivhile the Saxons were still immersed in darkness and
ignoranceJ' — Sir James Mackintosh, History of England, vol. i.
chap. ii.

" Will it be any longer doubted, after this," says Warner, " whether
the ancient Irish had any philosophy, literature, or arts, in their pagan
state ? Will any critic in this country [England] any longer confidently
assert that the Irish had not the use of letters till after the arrival of St.
Patrick, and the conversion of the island to Christianity ? Ought we
Englishmen not rather take shame to ourselves, that we have hitherto
always treated that ancient gallant people with such illiberal contempt,

334 THE IRISH UNDER PAGANISM.

[and MARK !] loho had the start of the Britons, for many ages, in
arts and sciences, in learning and laws 1 "

ToJand, in his History of the British Druids, says, " At this era, the
Irish were the most enlightened cultivators of letters in Europe; and
so great ivas the respect in ivhich their learning was held by the Sax-
ons and North Britons, that the Druids of these countries, for ages,
were initiated into their arts, knowledge, and, mysteries, by the
Irish Druids.'^ Another Enghshman, Camden, says, " St. Patrick
found the Irish Diiaids, who contended with him at Tara, eminently
versed in Grecian literature and astronomy." Again, Whitaker, an-
other English historian, says, ''In the reign of the celebrated monarch
NiAL, the arch-Druid of Ireland, was acknowledged the sovereign pon-
tiff of the order by the Druids and bards of Gaul, Britain, and Scot-
land." And Bishop Stillingfleet, another adverse authority, says,
"St. Patrick certainly brought no accession of literature to the Irish,
as their Druids ivere then the most learned body of men in Europe, and
stood unrivalled in the cultivation of letters."

" The simple statement of Tacitus," says Moore, " that, at the period
when he wrote, [the first century,] the waters and harbors of Ireland
were, through the means of commerce and of navigators, better known
than those of Britain, opens such a retrospect at once into her foregone
history, as, combined with similar glimpses in other writings of antiquity,
renders credible her claims to early civilization, and goes far to justify
some of the proud boasts of her annals." These are testimonies from
writers the most of whom are not Irish ! These are testimonies in favor
of Ireland's former standing in arts, in laws, in arms, and in morals,
which should cheer the exiled emigrant from that sacred island in his
pilgrimage through countries where he is little known, and where his
nation is studied only through the printing presses of her tyrants.

Such were Ireland and the Irish on the arrival of the apostle Patrick ;
and now we shall witness her embrace, without the sacrifice of a single
drop of blood, the peaceful, bloodless doctrines of the Christian gospel ;
we shall see her become, in fact, a very nation of apostles and preachers
of the gospel of Heaven ; we shall see her open colleges and schools for
the youth of all nations, where food and clothing, where education,
and, what was then more valuable, where books, were given to the
students free of charge — books that were valued at double their weight
in gold. We shall see her missionaries go into Europe, — ay, through the
length and breadth of Europe ; we shall see them convert, instruct,
and civilize, the Saxon, the Pict, the Gaul, the Belgan, the German,

THE IRISH UNDER PAGANISM. 335

the Italian. We shall see their country revered amongst the nations,
and honored by the appellation of insula sanctorum et doctorum,
(island of saints and doctors ;) and when this is brought out before the
people of this great republic, let the paltry Irishman, who forgets the
sacred earth of his forefathers, be contemned by enlightened man, and
be despised by chivalrous woman.

The religion practised generally by the Irish, down to this period,
was pagan Druidism, which continued for seventeen hundred years
the religion of the princes and people of Ireland. It is hard, at this
distant period, to define exactly the nature of the Druid religion ; the
reader will please turn to page 136, and learn something of its nature.

It appears that the paganism of the ancient Irish was better calcu-
lated to generate good morals, than the paganism of Rome, or Greece,
during coeval ages. We have seen the Leinster prince, Eochaidth,
banished from his throne, some two centuries previous to this era, for
having imposed on his father-in-law a tale that his first wife, daughter of
the king, was dead, and fraudulently obtain the hand of his second
daughter in marriage, his first being alive. We have seen another king
in Ireland branded as " the Shameful," for the crime of incest. And
we have seen the solemn and ceremonious nuptial rights strictly observed
at the pubhc festivities. We cannot find a single feature of polygamy
mark the face of society in ancient Ireland. We have seen the care
with which female honor was guarded ; and pagan Ireland may proudly
contrast herself, in morals, with the most refined nations of the ages
which we are considering. ,

For, if we turn even to Greece, though they had there some confused
ideas of a future state, yet Socrates was persecuted for publishing his
belief in the existence of a supreme God. Not so Cormac, the king of
Ireland, as we have seen in the last century. When he intuitively dis-
covered the existence of a divine Creator, and renounced the paganism
of the Druids, he was not persecuted. Although Greece has given to
the world some splendid'scholars, yet the morals and philosophy of that
ancient people are questionable. Tytler, in his Ancient History, says,
" The Greek philosophy, on the whole, affords little more than a picture
of the imbecility and caprice of the human mind." Their religious no-
tions were formed after various crotchets of the philosophers, who, to
become conspicuous, combated with each other, destroying by one set
of opinions the creations of another.

If we turn to Rome, we will find their religion consist of the worship of
imaginary gods, to whom the most brutal and ridiculous sacrifices were

336 THE IRISH UNDER PAGANISM.

offered. Besides this, they observed a code of prognostication, founded
on the manner of death of the animals offered up to their gods ; thus,
if the ox died easily from the firet stroke, and bled profusely, then their
battles were likely to be successful. If, on the contrary, he showed
signs of a convulsive struggle ; if the animal's heart was small ; if any of
the entrails fell from the priest's hands, — then the augurs and soothsayers
would weigh all the circumstances, and order public affairs accordingly.
A court of augurs or interpreter of dreams, omens, and other accidents,
was established in Rome ; and even the emperors were appointed
presidents of this wise assembly, the emperor taking upon him to judge
of things divine and human. A pretty system of philosophy, indeed,
which sanctioned an emperor and a grave court sitting on the dreams
of all the young and old ladies of Rome !

Yet Rome is amongst the studies of your youth, to the exclusion of
Ireland.

There were many most disgusting ceremonies practised in Rome, but
the state of morals was degrading in the extreme ; it was a custom for
married men to negotiate for what we would consider the dishonor of
their wives. Even the great Cato was guilty of this degradation ; and,
although we have a Lucretia stabbing herself, in the presence of her
husband and kindred, rather than survive her dishonor, we have a
Tullia stabbing her own father, the king of Rome, to prepare the way
for the usurpation of her husband, Tarquinius.

No such degradino;, debasino; features can be discovered in the morals
or customs of the pagan Irish : on the contrary, public virtue, which
grows only from the individual virtue of each unit of the community,
was manifest in every act and custom of the ancient Irish. Such was
Ireland before the meridian Sun of Christianity shed its refulgence over
her verdant valleys.

We shall now pursue her eventful story during the brilliant ages that
she was mistress of the world's literature, when Greece was almost for-
gotten, when Rome had crumbled beneath the weight of her own
wickedness, when England was the theatre of contending barbarians —
Saxon and native Britons:— and when Europe was trod alone by the
barbarian Goth and Vandal, then was Ireland the seat of science, piety,
and art.

BTUSIC AND POETRY.

337

HAS SORROW THY YOUNG DAYS SHADED?

BY MOOKE.

Tend EM- V,

^=S

W=^-

~j 1^ — 1^ 1 —

-^-=^v\

]SE

1. Has sor - row thy young days sha - ded, As

jSJ-

nsmr 1^

iEB^-

clouds o'er the morn - in^

-#-

! r

I r-

fleet?

I r

:S-#:

Too

fast have those young days fa - ded. That

8±

~g? ~

~.gg

^K=!— =1^

^=^==3=

©±

ven in sor - row were sweet.

TB'

f=-E

Does

338

MUSIC AND POETRT.

Time, with his cold wings, with

- er

Each

'Hf— n^-^

h#-

izz^

"15:

:i#:

feel - in Of that once

was

dear?

Come,

weep with thee tear

-#— F

■rH

^-¥-

Has love to that soul, so tender,
Been like our Lagenian mine,

Where sparkles of golden splendor
All over the surface shine ?

MUSIC AND POETRY.

339

But if, in pursuit, we go deeper,
Allured by the gleam that shone.

Ah ! false as the dream of the sleeper,
Like love, the bright ore is gone !

Has Hope, like the bird in the story,

That flitted from tree to tree,
With the talisman's glittering glory —

Has Hope been that bird to thee?
In branch after branch alighting,

The gem did she still display,
And, when nearest and most inviting.

Then waft the fair gem away?

If thus the sweet hours have fleeted.

When Sorrow herself looked bright ;
If thus the fond hope has cheated.

That led thee along so light ;
If thus the unkind world wither

Each feeling that once was dear.
Come, child of misfortune, come hither,

I'll weep with thee tear for tear.

NORAH, THE PRIDE OF KILDARE

v=--^-''~^^

§E?

1. As beauteous as Flo-ra is charm -ing young

bliiD

340

MUSIC AND POETRY.

i5_

fcE^i

B=j:

No - rah, The joy of my heart, and the

:P:

IeeeE

pride of Kil - dare ; I ne'er can de - ceive her, for

_l L

~M'

2ii

f^-

3=^^jki=

sad - ly 'twould grieve her,

To find that I

siehed

for an - oth - er less fair.

=it-_zz=^:

zip

•* f

■Q: N

1 "to ^

' -^ J^

1 -^ ^ 1 ^*

1 r "• ,

(s) ^

» r J 1

* J 1

«' 1^ • J ;^

* '^

Her heart with truth teeming;

her

eyes with smiles

/jT\.

ic, <i^

r ^

' *1

^-^

1 1 «

1 1

MUSIC AND POETRY.'

341

3=5^

15:

^F^

;t=sp=:

beam - ing, What mor

tal could in

8=:

jure

-9— - i — n>^-

• •

r ^

1 r •

ff "1

r 1

_ #_

1^ .

1^ i

^,) i^ y* 1

^ . _b*»_ L.

•r

bios - som

rare,

As No -

rah, dear

/7S\.

^•

v^*

fi ^

1 ■ ^

1 1

— t^

•

F=?==

-^-r

-i-

rah, the pride of

Kil

dare?

No - rah, dear No - rah, the pride of Kil - dare ?

S=:

Where'er I may be, love, I'll ne'er forget thee, love,
Though beauties may smile, and try to ensnare;

Yet nothing shall ever thy heart from mine sever.
Dear Norah, sweet Norah, the pride of Kildare !

342 DAWN OF CHRISTIANITY.

SECTION II.

Dawn of Christianity in Ireland. — The first Missionaries. — Cathaldus. — The Feast
of Easter. — Dima the Missionary. — Heber. — St. Albe. — Palladius. — Their
Labors. — St. Patrick. — His Captivity and Servitude. — His Return to Gaul. —
His long Studies as an Ecclesiastic. — Appointed Bishop of Ireland. — Origin of
the Name Patrick. — Arrives in Ireland. — His Progress. — Appears at Tara. —
Discusses Christianity before the King. — Doctrine of the Trinity. — The Sham-
i-ock. — Converts the Druids, the King, and his Court. — Leaves Tara. — Passes
into Connaught. — Absence of venomous Reptiles in Ireland. — Arrives in Dub-
lin. — Proceeds to Munster. — Baptism of the Prince. — Proceeds to Ulster. —
Is attacked by an Assassin. — Preserved by Odran. — Attacked by a Brigand.

— Repentance of the Brigand. — Attacked by a Pirate. — Success of the Apostle.

— Great Number of Bishops and Priests appointed. — Conciliation of the Druids.

— Erection of Armagh into an Archbishopric. — Retreats of the Pious. — Com-
mittee of Nine, to revise the Laws and History of Ireland. — Destruction of the
Poetry of the Bards. — The Trial by Twelve Men. — The Apostle revisits Rome

— Returns to Ireland. — His Death. — His Sepulchre.

The renunciation, by King Cormac, of the Druid worship, and the
proclamation of his belief in the existence of a God, a Creator of
heaven and earth, prepared the way, in a considerable degree, for the
introduction of Christianity into Ireland. The minds of the people were
shaken by the philosophic reasons which Cormac published for his
recantation of a worship which his progenitors had followed for so
many ages. O'Halloran goes into a learned discussion to prove that
Christianity was preached in Ireland at an earlier period than is com-
monly supposed.

The constant enmity between the Roman emperors and the Irish
monarchs, which existed for the first four hundred years of the Christian
era, prevented any kind of friendly intercourse between the two nations.
The Christian doctrine first came, not immediately from Rome to Ireland,
but from the churches of Asia. Mansuetus, an Irishman, the first bishop
and patron of Toul, and canonized by Leo the Ninth, is said to have
been a disciple of St. Peter. " To me," continues O'Halloran, " it would
seem that Mansuetus, and the other Irish Christians, were rather the
disciples of St. John the evangelist ; and I ground my opinion on what
the Venerable Bede relates, touching the famous controversy about the
(;elebration of Easter. He tells us, that, in defence of the Irish time of
celebrating this feast, in opposition to that of Rome, Coleman, the Irish
bishop of Lindisfarn, among other reasons, declared, that ' he had re-

THE FIRST MISSIONARIES. CATHALDUS. FEAST OF EASTER. 343

ceived it from his forefathers, who sent him to Northumberland as their
bishop ; and it was the same custom which St. John, Christ's especially
beloved disciple, with all the churches under him, observed.' "

In the reign of Con, in the second century, Ireland sent forth the
famous St. Cathaldus, to preach the doctrine of Christ ; and he became
bishop and patron of Tarentum, in Italy. In the next age, Christianity
had taken root in the minds of many reflecting men of Ireland, and it
is expressly said, in the Catha Gahhra, that the Irish general Fion
went to Rome. In the succeeding age we read of an Irish bishop suf-
fering martyrdom in Britain ; and it is evident, by the poem of Torna
Eigis, chief bard to Niall the Grand, beginning with Dail Catha idir
Core, that he himself was a Christian, and Colgan offers arguments to
prove the great Niall one also.

As to the feast of Easter, the observance of which w^as a source of so
much contest between the western and eastern churches, I think this the
proper place to introduce the reasoning of O'Halloran and others on the
subject. The Jews had their pascha, or passover, to commemorate their
escaping unhurt on the night the destroying angel killed the first-born of
man and beast throughout Egypt ; and the apostles, after the death of
our Redeemer, judged that nothing could be more expressive of our
deliverance from sin than the institution of a similar festival. The Jews
were commanded to celebrate their passover on the fourteenth day of
the moon of the first month, which corresponded with our March,
this being the time of the vernal equinox, when the sun is in Aries,
the days and nights of equal length, and the new year beginning to
spring. The Jews had put our Lord to death, whilst they were cele
brating the feast of the paschal lamb. And this circumstance deter-
mined the Christians to celebrate theirs at the same time.

St. Peter and St. Paul, after quitting Palestine, judged that the
keeping this feast on the fourteenth day of the first moon, was rather
adopting the Jewish than forming a new festival. They therefore trans-
ferred it to the Sunday after, unless that Sunday fell on the fourteenth ;
but St. John, and the churches of Asia and Africa, adhered to the first
institution. It was, however, a matter of mere discipline, in which
Christians might differ without sin or schism. St. Poly carp, bishop of
Smyrna, and an immediate disciple of St. John, came to Rome, anno
158, on purpose to confer with Pope Anacctus on the subject. The
Asiatics, and all the churches deriving under them, continued their prac-
tice of celebrating Easter until the year 325, when the Council of
Nice issued a decree for observing this feast every where on the Sunday

344 ST. ALBE. PALLADIUS.

immediately following the vernal equinox. After further discussion be-
tween the bishops of various nations, this decree was ultimately obeyed
eveiy where.

The missionaries of Christianity not only preached in the fourth cen-
tury, but founded churches, and opened schools and colleges, in Ireland.
The holy Dima founded a Christian school near Adare, in the county
Limerick. Heber soon after founded another at Beg line, in Leinster,
" where," Father Colgan says, " many persons flocked to be instructed
in Christianity and letters." St. Albe, archbishop of Munster, St.
Kieran, and St. Declan, all preceded St. Patrick, and founded churches
in Ireland.

In the year 427, Pope Celestine, during the reign of Logaire, mon-
arch of Ireland, sent Palladlus, his bosom friend, with an ecclesiastical
staff of twelve missionaries, to Ireland. These were directed by the
pope to " proceed to the Scots believing in Christ," and Palladius was
appointed their first bishop. Such is the account given of this first mis-
sion by the Venerable Bede, who was a saxon ecclesiastic, and monk
of the same faith, and who wrote, in the seventh century, his histories
in Latin, from which they were translated into old Saxon English by
King Alfred.

The Irish were unwilling to acknowledge ecclesiastical obedience to
Rome, a power whose arn)S they so bravely and successfully resisted in
the field. They did not then perceive the distinction between the tem-
poral power of the Roman emperors and the spiritual power of the
chief bishop of the Christian church ; and although, by the open
renunciation of the Druidical system by King Cormac, pagan worship
had received a deadly blow, and though Pelagius, and his disciple
Celestus, who were both Irishmen, did much to disseminate their doc-
trines of Christianity, yet, before St. Patrick alone did the pagan system
melt away. This all the historians admit ; so that, without entering
farther into the earlier efforts of the Christian missionaries to convert the
Irish, I will at once proceed to the consideration of the mission of the
great apostle Patrick.

We have seen, in the previous pages, that the Irish legions harassed
the Roman power in Britain, and, that Niall the Grand, battled with
them in that country, and through Gaul, where he took two hundred
captives. These he carried to Ireland, and sold, for the period of seven
years, according to the custom practised in those ages, in reference to
captives taken in war. Amongst these captives were Patrick, then six-
teen years of age, and his two sisters, Lupida and Deverca.

ST. PATRICK. THE BIRTHPLACE OF PATRICK. 345

Historians differ about the birthplace of Patrick, O'Hallaran con-
tending his parents were Welsh on the father's side, and Gaulish on the
mother's side, whilst Moore contends for his Roman extraction. And
altliough there have been written upwards of sixty separate biographies
of this remarkable missionary, yet we are not truly certain whether
to assign him a Welsh, a Gaulish, or Roman parentage ; but, after all,
the parentage of such a one matters not much, for he was born for man-
kind and for religion. All the historians agree as to the mode of his
capture, bis conversion, &lc.

When brought to Ireland, the youth was sold to one Milcho, living in
that part of the island known as Antrim, where he was appointed a shep-
herd. The mountain now known as Sliohh Miss, or the "^Mountain of
the Moon," was the place of his meditation and prayer. After his term
of seven years of servitude ended, Patrick returned to the continent, and
obtained entrance into the College of Tours, in which his uncle Martin
was a teacher. In this place he studied for four years. This was in 397.
After St. Martin's death, in four or five years, he set out for Rome ;
here he was admitted among the prebendaries of St. John of Lateran,
anno 403 : he was then thirty years of age. For some time he studied
here. He afterwards visited several holy retreats in the islands of the
Mediterranean, and attached himself to the barefooted order of St. Au-
gustine. From these he went, in 418, to study with St. Germain at
Auxerre. Here he prepared himself more especially for performing the
important services to Christianity which subsequently crowned his life.
Leaving St. Germain, he entered the monastery of the Isle of Lerius,
where he continued for nine years in close study. After his leaving
Lerius, he returned to Auxerre, to his beloved friend St. Germain.
When the news of Palladius's death had reached them, St. Germain sent
him to Rome with instructions upon the mission to Ireland. He was
then, anno 430, thirty-eight years old.

It appears from his own Confessions, a book, the original of which,
according to Colgan, is still extant in the library of St. Vast, in Artoisy
that when a youth, in servitude, among the hills of Ireland, he was fer-
vent in his prayers to Heaven. " Every day I fed the flocks, and prayed
frequently during the day ; my love of God increased more and more,
and my fear and faith in him were augmented, so that in one day I
prayed almost a hundred times, and as often in the night. Whilst I tar-
ried on the mountain and in the woods, I was roused to pray both in the
snow, frost, and rain ; neither did I feel any pain from it, nor lassitude,
as I think, because my soul was then ardent." — Usher, c. 17, p. 830.
44

346 ST. Patrick's studies. — appointed bishop of Ireland.

In another place, Usher quotes the account of visions which the holy
man repeatedly saw, at several periods of his life. After having had his
interviews with Pope Celestine, then the incumbent of the holy see, he
hastened towards Ireland, together with twenty men, eminent for their
wisdom and sanctity, appointed by the pontiff himself to assist him in
the mission. In passing, he visited St. Germanus, his guardian and
instructor : from him he received chalices and sacerdotal vestments, a
quantity of books, and every other thing requisite for the ministry of the
church.

His baptismal name was Succath : at the time of his ordination by
St. Germain, it was changed to Magonias. After his consecration, and
to add greater weight and dignity to his embassy. Pope Celestine con-
ferred on him the order of the patricii. This was an institution of
Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor of Rome. It was
more honoi'able than the ancient Roman order of the patricii; for the
Christian order of patricii ranked next to the emperors. Thus did the
apostle Pati'ick return to the land of his captivity, bearing all the honors
which temporal and spiritual authority could confer. When Ireland be-
came thoroughly Christian, her people, in reverence towards their
beloved apostle, called their male children Patricius, after him. The
name was subsequently abbreviated to Pat, and corrupted into Paddy ;
but little do the great masses of vulgarity, who use the term Pat, or
Paddy, as a medium of reproach or contempt towards the expa-
triated Irishman, — little do they know that it was a title of the highest
honor which the Roman emperor could confer — a title which was
rendered still more illustrious by the apostle, by whom it was inter-
woven in the fondest memories of the Irish — a name honored for
fourteen hundred years by the descendants of the Milesians — a name
that will go honored down to the remotest posterity, reminding other
ages that a change was effected in the minds of an entire nation, by its
bearer, without resorting to a single act of persecution. It was a
title which the nobility of Europe, in succeeding generations, were
proud to wear ; for we find that the emperor Charlemagne, and other
kings of France, assumed the title of patricii, in the eighth and ninth
centuries, as one of the highest honors. The aposde retained the title
Patricius during his life, by which title alone is he recognized by
posterity.

There was a small ship placed at his disposal ; he first landed
upon Leland at a place called Crioch Cuallan, on the eastern part
of Leinster, called at present Wicklow. This took place anno 432,

LANDS IN IRELAND. HIS PROGRESS. 347

during the reign of King Laogare, the grandson of O'Niall of the
Nine Hostages. After preaching here for some time, and making a
few converts, he returned to his ship, and steered towards DubHn, when
he touched at an island called, after him, Inis Phadruig. Having
rested here, he again put to sea, and steered along the coast to the
north of Ireland, wh£re he made port in the Bay of Dundrum, county
Down.

The lords of the territory, having heard that pirates had landed on
their coast, issued forth, with their followers, to drive them off, but,
being struck with the sanctified appearance of the apostle and his follow-
ers, heard them preach, and became their converts. The apostle, being
now near the residence of his old master, Mllcho, undertook to find and
preach to him the tidings of the Crucified. Milcho, too proud to
receive instruction from one who had formerly been his slave, and
hearing with indignation that his son and two daughters had embraced
the Christian faith, in the excess of his rage, set fire to his house, and
cast himself into the flames. St. Patrick was so affected at this, that he
remained several hours without speaking, and shed tears.

After spending some time in this district, where he made many con-
verts, he ordained some priests, and left behind him some of his own
missionaries, whom he consecrated bishops. He then embarked for
Meath.

He landed below Drogheda, where the Boyne falls into the sea, and
left his little ship in care of Luman, his nephew, and a few sailors, with
orders to wait for him for forty days, during which he would preach the
gospel in the interior of the country. His intention was to go and cele-
brate the festival of Easter in the plains of Magh-Breagh, where the city
of Tara was situated. He wished to be within reach of the court, at
the time of the assembly, composed of the princes, Druids, and pagan
priests, which was to be held that year by the monarch ; well knowing
that whatever impression he might produce at court would necessarily
influence the provinces : with this view he armed himself with zeal to
take advantage of so favorable an opportunity.

Our saint having met, on his way, with Sesgnen, the lord of a territory
in Meath, who invited him to partake of his hospitality, he entered his
house, announcing the word of God, and baptized him with all his fam-
ily. This lord had a son, to whom the holy bishop gave the name of
Binen, or Benignus, at his baptism. The young convert became at-
tached to the saint, accompanied him every where, and made so great a
progress in piety and virtue, that he considered him worthy of being ap-
pointed to the see of Ardmach, which he surrendered to him. After

348 ST. PATRICK ARRIVES AT TARA. — THE SHAMROCK.

leaving the house of Sesgnen, the apostle proceeded towards Tara, and
arrived, the day before Easter, at a place called Firta-Fir-Feic, now
Slaine, on the left bank of the River Boyne, where he had a tent erect-
ed, to prepare for the ceremonies of the following day.

When the monarch convened, or held the religious festival, at
Tara, it was customary to make a bonfire on the preceding day : it was
prohibited to have one in any other place at the same time, in the terri-
tory of Breagh. Patrick, who despised so superstitious a practice,
caused a large fire to be lighted before his tent, which was easily seen
from Tara. The Druids, alarmed at this attempt, carried their com-
plaints before the monarch, and said to him that, if he had not that fire
immediately extinguished, he who had kindled it, and his successors,
would hold the sovereignty of Ireland forever ; which prophecy has
been fulfilled in a spiritual light. The monarch sent an order to the
stranger to appear before the assembly, the day following, in order to
account for his conduct, and he forbade that any should rise through
respect for him. Ere, son of Dego, was the first who disobeyed the
orders of the monarch : at the approach of the saint, that lord rose up,
offered him his place, and, having listened attentively to the word of
God, embraced Christianity, and was afterwards nominated bishop of
Slaine, by the apostle. Patrick, always eager to do every thing that
could tend to the salvation of mankind, presented himself, the day fol-
lowing, with two of his disciples, before the assembly, whel'e he preached
the faith of Jesus Christ, in presence of the monarch and all his nobles,
with a freedom which was ti-uly apostolical. Dubtach, arch-poet of
Laogare, submitted to his preaching ; and the talents which he had em-
ployed before his conversion, in celebrating the praises of the false
gods, were afterwards turned to glorify the true God and his saints.
Fiech, his disciple, followed his example, and afterwards became bishop
of Sletty. .

So convincing were the arguments of Patrick, that several Dinids
were converted ; and then the monarch exclaimed, " It is better I should
believe than die." The queen, the monarch, and their two daughters,
were converted. It was on this occasion that St. Patrick, when told
by the Druids that the doctrine of the Trinity was absurd, as three could
not exist in one, stooped down, and, pulling a shamrock, which has
three leaves on one stem, replied, " To prove the reality and possibility
of the existence of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I have only to
pluck up this humble plant, on which we have trodden, and convince
you that truth can be attested by the simplest symbol of illustration."
Such was the manner in which the mild but truly eloquent apostle of

ABSENCE OF VENOMOUS REPTILES. 349

Christianity introduced that change in the reUgion of Ireland, which
softened and refined the manners of a chivah'ous and warhke race into a
nation of apostles and preachers of the Christian divinity.

The preaching of the apostle was here supported by many miracles,
mentioned by the authors of his life. There never was, in reality, a
circumstance in which signs were more necessary than in an assembly
composed of the chiefs and learned men of the whole nation. St.
Patrick, having completed his mission at the court of Tara, repaired to
Tailton, where the military games were celebrated every year. He did
not keep the talent which his Master endowed him with unemployed :
he always sought large assemblies, in order to turn it to advantage.
The season of those military exercises, which was the last fifteen days
of July, and the first fifteen days of August, being near, he repaired to
Tailton, where he preached the doctrine of Jesus Christ to Cairbre and
Conall, brothers of Laogare, the monarch, with different success : the
former continued obdurate and unchanged ; the latter, having attended
to his instructions, was baptized, and in gratitude he conferred land on
the saint, upon which he built a church. He spent the rest of that year
in the territories of Meath and Leinster, where a great number were con-
verted, amongst others the two princesses Ethne and Fedeline, daugh-
ters of Laogare, with the Druids Mael and Caplait.

He then passed over to West Meath, where he was successful ; for
his fame now travelled before him. He tarried a while at Brefny, in
the county Leitrim, the home of the O'Ruarks. Here he was hospita-
bly entertained, and made many converts. It was in this place he de-
stroyed the idol Crom Cruach, and on the spot founded a church.
From thence he passed across the Shannon into Connaught. . He there
made many thousand converts, erected several churches, appointed
many priests and bishops, and soon proceeded on to Sligo, where he
founded several more churches. He next returned to the county Gal-
way, and made many converts. At the approach of Lent, he withdrew
to a high mountain, called Creagh Phadring, in the county of Mayo.
Here he spent forty days in fasting and prayer. Some of the authors
of his life say that he gathered here all the snakes and reptiles of the
island, and drove them down into the sea. However this be, it is
certain that the soil of Ireland is exempt from venomous reptiles.
Solinus, who had written some centuries before the arrival of St.
Patrick in Ireland, makes mention of this exemption ; and, after him,
Isidore, bishop of Seville, in the seventh century, and Bede in the
eighth, speak of it without assigning any cause. It appears that

350 ST. PATRICK ARRIVES IN DUBLIN. PROCEEDS TO CASHELL.

Jocelin is the first who gave this account, in the twelfth century.
The pecuharity may be supposed to proceed from the cUmate or the
nature of the soil, rather than from any supernatural cause. It would
require very many books to give a detailed account of the apostle's
labors and successes through Ireland. What I have said, or may yet
say about him, is the most meagre outline of his extraordinary mission.

Returning towards the east of Leinster, he crossed the River of Fin-
glass, arrived at Bally- Ath-Cliath, " oppidum super crates," a city so
called from the hurdles which were used either to secure the founda-
tions of the houses, or to strengthen the roads on the marshy banks of
the River LifFey, which waters it : this city has been since called Duhh-
Lin, at present Dublin, from the black and muddy bottom of that river.

The high reputation for sanctity which St. Patrick had acquired,
added to the number of miracles he wrought every where, having made
him known and respected even by the pagans, the inhabitants of Dub-
lin went out in crowds to meet him. These appearances were a happy
omen of the faith they were about to receive from his lips. He bap-
tized them all, with Alphin, son of Eochaidh. who was at that time
their king : the ceremony was performed in a fountain near the city,
called, since that time, the Fountain of St. Patrick, and became an object
of devotion to the faithful for many centuries, till it was filled up and
enclosed within a private dwelling in the beginning of the seventeenth
century. The saint had a church built near this fountain, which after-
wards became a cathedral, bearing his name.

Having established Christianity in Leinster on a solid basis, St. Pa-
trick proceeded to Munster, where there were already some Christians,
and a few. churches founded by his precursors. He went directly to-
wards Cashell, where King Aongus at that time resided. This prince,
being informed of the sanctity and virtues of the holy apostle, came forth
to meet him in the plain of Femyn, which is a territory that surrounds
Cashell : he received him with every mark of distinction and respect,
and brought him to his city in triumph, where he heard the word of God,
and was converted to the faith, together with his whole court.

A sino-ular fact is related of the Christian fortitude and patience of
Aongus, during the ceremony of his baptism. The holy bishop having
leaned on his pastoral staff, which was pointed with iron, it pierced the
king's foot, who suffered the pain without complaining till the ceremony
was ended. The apostle, hearing of the accident, asked him why he
had not complained ; the king answered respectfully that he thought it
formed part of the ceremony. This circumstance was finely represented

ATTACKED BY AN ASSASSIN. 351

on canvass by the celebrated Irish painter Barry, who was president of
the Royal Academy of London in the last century. This prince was
pious, and fii-mly attached to the religion he had embraced: out of a
great number of children of both sexes, he devoted one half to the ser-
vice of God, and always supported in his palace religious persons, who
served as his council in religious affairs.

The four precursors of St. Patrick, namely, Ailbe, Declan, Kieran,
and Ibar, having come to Cashell to see the saint, and to congratulate
their king upon his conversion, assisted at the synod which that apostle
had convoked. Some difference arose about the primacy, which those
saints, who, like him, had received their mission from the holy see,
would not acknowledge in St. Patrick. However, their charity stifled
every sentiment opposed to the cause of Jesus Christ. They were
confirmed, at that synod, in the possession of the churches they had
founded. That of Imleach-Jobhuir, otherwise Emly, in Tipperary,
founded by St. Ailbe, was made the metropolitan of the whole prov-
ince : it was united to Cashell in the sixth century. Thai of Ardmore,
in the territory of Desie, in the county of Waterford, was adjudged to
St. Declan, by whom those people were converted : this church was af-
terwards annexed to Lismore. St. Kieran was confirmed in the see of
Saigre. Lastly, Ibar was appointed bishop of Beg- Erin, that is, Little
Ireland, an island on the coast of Wexford. Having settled, with the
other bishops, the affairs of the church of Cashell, St. Patrick took leave
of Aongus, and continued his mission through Muscraighe-Breogain,
Aracliach, and Lumneach, as far as the River Shannon.

In the year 455, he left Munster, to return to the north of the island.
In passing through Leinster, he preached the gospel in the district of
Hy-Failge, which belonged to the descendants of Rossa-Failge, son of
the monarch Cathoir-More.

Our saint spent six years in visiting the churches of Ulster, consoling
and confirming the new Christians, and converting those who had per-
severed in idolatry ; and, the better to watch over the churches in gen-
eral, he resigned the see of Ardmach to St. Binen, or Benignus, his
disciple and successor.

On one occasion a desperate chieftain, instigated by some of the
Druids, waylaid the apostle, to take his life ; but the extraordinary zeal
of his charioteer, Odran, happily prevented the accomplishment of the
dreadful design.

The assassin appeared ; but Odran, the saint's driver, exchanged
dress with his master, placed himself in the chariot, whilst the saint took

352 ST. PATRICK SAVED BY ODRAN.

the horse's reins, and, when the murderous attack was made, he re-
ceived the spear of the assassin, and thus preserved, for some years
longer, to Christianity a valuable life, whilst we may confidently hope
the immolation of the zealous man's body obtained the admission of his
soul to the companionship of the blessed. The faithful Odran was the
only martyr that Ireland offered at the shrine of Christianity, which is
a boast that no other nation can make.

Upon another occasion, the captain of a band of robbers attacked
him while visiting Lecale, the scene of his earliest labors ; and the de-
signs to rob him, and perhaps take his life, he baffled by the extraor-
dinary address he summoned on the occasion. His persuasive and
powerful rebuke had such an effect on the brigand, that he fell on his
knees, implored the saint's forgiveness, and besought him to impose such
a penance on him as the saint thought due to his iniquitous attempt.
Patrick directed him to place himself in a curragh, or small boat, made of
hurdles and leather, and put out to sea, clothed in a coarse garment, and,
trusting to the waves and the winds, land on the first shore he touched,
and there devote himself to the service of God. The command was
faithfully obeyed, and Maccaldus, the brigand, landed on the Isle of Man,
the island midway between Ireland, Scotland, and England. Here
he found two Christian bishops, under whom he learned the doctrines of
Christianity, and succeeded these very bishops, on their death, as chief
bishop of that Island.

Whilst the apostle was engaged in a district on the coast of Munster,
where he had been baptizing an immense number of persons, a pirate,
from the coast of Wales or England, named Coroticus, landed and pil-
laged the inhabitants, having murdered some of those Christians, and
carried off many of them, whom he sold as captives. Upon this occa-
sion, the holy Patrick pronounced a fiat of excommunication against
this pirate, which, together with his Confessions^ are the only written
documents in his own hand-writing that have come down to us. It is
said this pirate destroyed himself shortly after through remorse.

No language that I could use would convey an idea of the labors, in-
cessant zeal, and signal and miraculous successes, that attended the
mission of St. Patrick. So great and signal, indeed, was this success,
that, in a very few years, the princes and chief nobility of the kingdom
became Christians. Not only this, but so great was their zeal, and so
pure their intentions, that they did not deem it sufficient to devote a
part of their riches, their flocks, and their corn to God, but bestowed
also their sons on the church. Hence the amazing number of devout

GREAT NUMBER 01' PKIESTS A^D BISHOPS APPOINTED. 353

recluses and holy bishops, of the purest blood of Ireland, whose pedigrees
have been preserved widi great care, many of whom passed over, from
time to time, to Britain, Gaul, and to the continent, to establish the doc-
trine of Christianity by their precepts and their example.

It is recorded of Patrick that, during his mission in Ireland, he conse-
crated no less than three hundred and sixty bishops, and ordained three
thousand priests, none of whom were received who had not given the
clearest evidences of a holy and pious life. This number of bishops
may, at this time of day, surprise some; but the saint, who mingled
great tact and prudence with his zeal and piety, observing that, in Ire-
land, all titles, and stations, and public offices, connected either with the
religion or police of the kingdom, belonged, by an hereditary tenure, to
certain families, to which offices certain lands were aunexed for their
support, instructed and appointed the Druid priesthood, who derived
an hereditary right to office and income, to the duties of the Christian
religion. The chief Druid, or Fhnnen, enjoyed these incomes, and, to
aid him, was appointed a coadjutor. These families were all con-
ciliated towards the new order by this concession to their family
dignities and incomes ; and when we rememlaer the length of his
mission, being sixty odd years, the number of bishops he consecrated
will cease to surprise us.

He saw four of the archbishops, that he himself consecrated in the
head seat of Armagh, die one after the other, he being the first and the
sixth archbishop. By the prudence, moderation, and good sense,
of the apostle, was the whole kingdom brought to acknowledge the
doctrine of Christ ; and this wonderful reform was conducted with so
much wisdom that it produced not the least disturbance, confusion, or
confiscation. The Druids and their votaries were unmolested, and
Christian bishops were appointed to succeed the Druid mch-Flamens
from those families only whose hereditary titles were clear and
admitted.

The university of Tara enjoyed, from the days of Ollamh Fodhla, the
power of conferring precedences on the learned doctors. The apostle,
having built a great university at his favorite residence of Armagh, re-
solved that it should be the chief of all the Christian seminaries. To
this end he had influence enough with the l^ing and assembly of the
estates to obtain a legislative enactment trahsfei*ring the power of
granting doctors' degrees to Armagh, which rank it supported till the
dissolution of the Irish monarchy. Holy abbots at that time, and for
centuries after, erected their retreats in the most sequestered spots of
45

354 THE OLD LAWS. TRIAL BY JURY.

Ireland, that nothing might disturb their prayers and meditations.
Scarce an island, or solitary spot of ground, in Ireland, that spiritual
retreats were not already made in, and churches and abbeys erected,
the remains of most of which are yet visible.

The apostle was also anxious to purify the laws and literature of
Ireland, and for this purpose obtained a committee of nine from the
assembly. Amongst these were the king and some other of the provin-
cial princes. Here the saint was paramount, and with his own hand
burned several hundred volumes of poetry and other works of the
Druids. It is said the poetry was so fascinating, the apostle feared the
reading of it would cause some to relapse into the Druid system again ;
and this disposition of Patrick was caught up and imitated by all the
zealous Christians throughout Ireland, who revered Patrick so much
that a universal destruction of the poetic v/orks of the ancient Irish
ensued, which, as admirers of literature, we cannot but deplore. In the
course of this severe scrutiny, all the laws of Ireland were examined
into ; and here, amongst die brehon accumulations, was discovered that
priceless feature in your jurisprudence of the present day, the " trial of
the twelve men."

All disputes about land were submitted to the decision of twelve men ;
and here is the foundation of that palladium of human liberty, the trial
by jury, which was in action, amongst other wise laws, in Ireland for
centuries, and which was afterwards introduced by Alfred into the Eng-
lish constitution. As some persons, who have been accustomed to read
little else than British history, entertain the idea that King Alfred in-
vented the tribunal of trial by jury, I would ask such to read the preface
to Leland's History of Ireland, and the able work of O'Halloran, in
which has been shown that the apostle Patrick found, at this examina-
tion of the Irish laws, the trial of the twelve men, as part of their breathe
nhime, or celestial judgments. He wisely retained that feature in their
jurisprudence, and it was found in operation by Alfred when he received
his education in Ireland ; where, indeed, all the Saxon princes and
priests came, in those ages, to be instmcted in philosophy, law, literature,
music, and religion.

No scholar or jurist will venture to say that the trial by the jury of
twelve was known to the laws of any of the Greek islands. It cannot
be found among the laws of the Twelve Tables of Rome, nor is it in the
Pandects of Justinian — a work which imbodied the entire laws of the
Roman empire. No feature of trial by twelve men can be found in
the institutions of the Visigoths, whose kings succeeded those of Rome

THE APOSTLE REVISITS ROME. 355

in Italy, and who introduced, through the south of Europe, a new code
of jurisprudence ; nor can it be traced in the laws of the Ostrogoths,
who swarmed round the Baltic ; nor, least of all, among the customs of
the Saxons, the most ferocious and illiterate of the barbarians of ancient
Europe.

We have the evidence of St. Patrick and his committee that the law
of the twelve men was the ancient custom of Ireland ; and when we
know the other nations of Europe cannot produce a particle of evidence
to support their envious claims to this transcendent legal honor, we shall
feed our oppressed hearts with the remembrance of that glory which our
forefathers have shed on us by their laws, their arms, their arts, and
their sanctity ; and, though the sacred trial by jury has been desecrated,
in our days, by the judges of the Saxon, yet the hour of our vindication
is only made the more certain by that desecration ! Our freedom is
settled by the negotiations of Heaven. Justice and intelligence will
triumph at last.

The saint, having completed the conversion of Ireland, prepared to
proceed to Rome, to report to his holiness the success which attended
his labors. To this end, he sailed for Liverpool, where he preached
and converted many hundreds. Liverpool was then but a fishing
village. Here was erected a cross, to commemorate the event, which
remains to this day a witness of the labors of the great apostle. From
this he proceeded to the Isle of Man, where he placed St. Germain.
From that he repaired to Rome, where, some of the historians say, he
received the honorary title of the Roman order patricius, but which
others contend he received ere he first landed in Ireland. On this
second visit to Rome, he received the utmost degree of honor. He was
appointed legate or chief of the clergy of Ireland. He returns to the
loved scene of his labors, where he appointed thirty new chief bishops,
and divided the kingdom into sees, deaneries, rectories, and parishes,
over which he placed eminent ecclesiastics of learning and piety.

The sees, parishes, rectories, and deaneries, established by the
apostle, remain the ecclesiastical boundaries of the English church in
Ireland to this day. Towards the close of his life, he retired to Lough
Derg, a favorite retreat in the county Donegal, where he spent the most
part of its decline in pious meditation, presiding occasionally at great
synods of the clergy.

After a long life of piety, usefulness, and fame, the saint sank to rest,
at the age of one hundred and twenty-six, honored and revered by
nations. He sank peaceflilly, the bright luminary of heaven in the dis-

356 ST, TATrJCK's TOMB.

lant west, blending his glory with the light of the gospel sun. No pomp
heralded his coming ; no mailed armies guarded his dying bed ; the
heralds of heaven bore him to the presence of his Creator.

He was buried in Downpatrick, in the north of Ireland ; and in the
same tomb were subsequently laid the remains of St. Bridget and St.
Columb Kille. A splendid shrine was erected here for the saint, which
was adorned with costly and precious jewels, and his staff was laid by
his side.

The tomb of Patrick was visited by Cambrensis in 1174, and upon it
he found the following Latin inscription : —

" Hi tres Duno, tumulo tumulaniur in uno,
Brigida, Patridus, atque Columba Pius."

"In Down three saints one grave do fill,
Bridget, Patrick, and Columb Kille."

Here his sainted bones rested, and here stood his shrine and the offer-
ings of piety that adorned it, till, in the reign of Henry the Eighth, the
fanatics of that age scattered the sacred pile, and took away the sacred
staff which the apostle carried when he performed the sacred offices of
his ministry. May Heaven forgive them 1

MUSIC AND POETBT.

35/

PATRICK'S DAY.

WORDS BY T. MOONET.

lES

:6-

9~i ^ 9~

'-r

3=Ei:

"P f

1, When Pat - rick first came to the isl - and, whose

-r^

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9 — j 9 I

^ 9

fame Had shed a bright ha - lo o'er o - cean and

^'-i>-

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3=E?-i-

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Stream, He blessed all the mountains, the val - leys and

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fountains, And drove out the vi - pers with scorn - ing ;

■^^^^

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358

MUSIC AND POETRY.

F=F

5":

-ff

But Pat - rick neg - lected, Or nev - er ex - pected

That Ireland would ev - er a - gain be de - ject - ed,

9. L^.

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Or with Sas - sa - nagh vi - pers or snakes be in - fected ;

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But thought his own isl - and would e'er be pro - tected ;

5^=3^

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By all oth - er na - twns for - ev - er re - spected ;

3EPi

MUSIC AND POETRY.

359

pfc, 1^ B^ W n

•— » ,

J^ K

^ Ni ^

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r • *

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•^04

»' U* L '

For E - rin's bright na - tion was freedom's own station,

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1 II 1

1 1 1

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When he first saw her hills in the mom - ing.

¥-"

But he must come again at the head of his men,
O'Connell and Matthew the van proudly leading,
And these vipers drive out, with shillelahs so stout,
From the island that Matthew's reforming;

And, should he not win,

We have millions of men.
That are ready to fight o'er the battle again,
With Saxon or Hessian, in valley and glen ;
For Erin is foaming with deep agitation.
And vows she'll submit to no foreign dictation.
O ! they never again shall oppress that brave nation.
On Patrick's day in the morning.

Come, now, raise a shout, and let freemen speak out,
For the hour is come for Erin's redeeming;
The times they are favoring, the enemy's wavering,
And Ireland's freedom is dawning.
O'er valley and hill.
By streamlet and rill,
The voice of young Liberty, echoing shrill,

360 MUSIC AND POETRY.

Proclaims to the world the national will ;
And millions are swelling in high exultation,
For the Saxon is sinking in every nation,
While Erin takes courage, makes one declaration
Of freedom on Patrick's morning!

Then who is there here that refuses a cheer
To the land of Macdonough* and Barry! now mourning;
Or of Jackson | so brave, that shed o'er the wave,
The rays of his splendor adorning ;

Of Montgomery,<§> too,

Who, to freedom so true,
Let his blood spill like water, winning freedom for you !
His race now for liberty fervently sue ;
And the nation that gave those heroes so brave
To Columbia, to battle on field and on wave.
Deserves her old station, as freedom's own nation,
On Patrick's day in the morning!

* Macdonough, the hero of Lake Champlain, was the son of Irish parents, born
on the passage to America.

+ Barry was a Wexford man. He left his country as a ship-boy, at seventeen
years of age, and became a captain of a merchantman trading to America. When
the revolution broke out, he volunteered to fight at sea on the side of liberty; was
appointed to the command of the first vessel ever built by the republic, — the Lex-
ington, of seventeen guns, — distinguished himself in many a well-fought action, and
lived to receive the applauding thanks of Washington and liberated America.

X Jackson, like Macdonough, was born of Irish parents, on their passage to the
Canadas. His deeds form a principal part of the history of the United States.
His defence of New Orleans will last as long in the memories of mankind as the
defence of Thermopylse. " The Irish blood, which alone flows in my veins, will
never cease, but with my life, to beat in unison with those who have at heart the
establishment of Irish liberty." — Letter to the Author, dated '■'■Hermitage, May 23,
1842."

§ Montgomery, an Irishman, brigadier-general of the American army, fell in the
midst of a successful career, at the gates of Quebec. He had driven the English
before him for several hundred miles, and fell here by a chain -shot, said to have
been fired by a recreant from the American side, who had joined the British.

MUSIC AND POETRY.

361

O ERIN, MY COUNTRY!

1. O E-rin, my country ! although thy harp slumbers, And

Ta-ra's old hall, With

-H-1

ca ca ^

scarce one kind hand to a - wa - ken its slumbers, Or

•■#-■

9 — \ — ^r — 9

V--f^

1^"

sound a lone dirge to the

son

Fin - gal. The

'rsr

^—^-^—W

phies of warfare may hang there neg - lee ted. For

fe&-

w±

dead are the war - riors to whom they were known ; But the

■^

harp of old E - rin shall still be respect - ed, While there

-W—^r

lives but one bard to
46

liv

en its tone

362 MUSIC AND POETRY.

O Erin, my country ! I love thy green bowers ;

No music's to me like thy murmuring rills;
Thy shamrock to me is the fairest of flowers,

And nought is more dear than thy daisy-clad hills.
Thy caves, whether used by the warriors or sages,

Are still sacred held in each Irishman's heart;
And thy ivy-crowned turrets, the pride of past ages,

Though mouldering in ruins, do grandeur impart.

Britannia may vaunt of her lion and armor,

And glory when she her old wooden walls views;
Caledonia may boast of her pibroch and claymore,

And pride in her philibeg, kilt, and her hose ;
But where is the nation can rival old Erin ?

Or where is the country such heroes can boast?
In battle they're brave as the lion or tiger.

And bold as the eagle that flies round her coast.

The breezes oft shake both the rose and the thisde.

While Erin's green shamrock lies hushed in the vale;
In safety it rests while the stormy winds whistle,

And grows undisturbed 'midst the moss of the vale.
Then hail ! fairest island in Neptune's old ocean !

Thou land of St. Patrick, my parents, agrah !
Cold, cold must the heart be, and void of emotion,

That loves not the music of " Erin go bragh ! "

TAKE BACK THE VIRGIN PAGE.

BY MOORE.

1. Take back the vir - gin page. White and un - writ - ten still ;

MUSIC AND POETBT.

363

pz=^:

'S'

Some hand, more calm and sage, The leaf must fill.

'9~r

"jr-^

'9'

Thoughts come as pure as light. Pure as e - ven you require ;

iE2Ea=E35

=i=;

-(©L

But, O ! each word I write Love turns to fire 1

Yet, let me keep the book;

Oft shall my heart renew,
When on its leaves I look.

Dear thoughts of you.
Like you, 'tis fair and bright;

Like you, too bright and fair
To let wild passion write

One wrong wish there.
3.
Haply, when from those eyes

Far, far away I roam.
Should calmer thoughts arise

Towards you and home.
Fancy may trace some line

Worthy those eyes to meet;
Thoughts that not burn, but shine

Pure, calm, and sweet.
4.
And, as the records are

Which wandering seamen keep,
Led by the hidden star

Through winter's deep.
So may the words I write

Tell through what storms I stray;
You still the unseen light

Guiding my way !

LECTUEE XI

FROM A. D. 500 TO 800.

Glimpse at the Greeks and Romans. — State of Europe in the fifth Century. —
The Saxons. — Alliance between the Irish and Saxons. — Saxons obtain a Foot-
ing in England. — Seize on the Government. — Battles between the Saxons and
native Britons. — Treacherous Massacre committed by the Saxons. — Ancient
Memento of the Deed. — Battles of the Saxons with the native Britons. — The
Angles. — Origin of the Term "England." — The Heptarchy. — Resumption of
the Narrative. — Reign of OUiol. — National Assembly of Tara. — Trade Corpo-
rations. — Reign of Lughaidh. — Progress of Christianity. — St. Bridget. — Orna-
mented Writing in her Time. — Reign of Mortough. — Spirit of the Christian
Ages. — The Monks. — Their Rules of Life. — College of Lismore. — Seized on
at the Reformation. — Origin of the Societies of holy Men. — Their Establish-
ment on the Continent by Irish Missionaries. — Christian Spirit of the Nation. —
Colleges. — Zeal and Number of the Christian Missionaries. — Reflections on
the Influence of religious Instruction. — Opinions of Sir James Mackintosh,
Bede, and Camden. — Eminent Irish Missionaries. — Catalans. — Sedulius. —
Colurab Kille. — His expulsion from Ireland. — Founds the Monastery of Huy.

— Returns with a Delegation from Scotia Minor. — Proceedings of the Delega-
tion.— His Death and Sepulchre. — Columbanus. — His Mission in France and
Germany. — Gall. — Jonas. — Fiacre. — Aidan. — Irish Missionaries teach the
Saxons. — Reluctance of the Scotch and English to acknowledge it. — Finian. —
Colman. — Fursey. — Maildelphus. — Cuthbert. — Kilian. — Sedulius. — Donatus.

— Virgilius. — He discovers the Sphericity of the Earth. — Clement. — Alba-
nius. — Appointed by Charlemagne over his Colleges. — Dungal. — Appointed
Manager of the Schools of Italy. — John Scotus. — His Reception by Charles
the Bald of France. — Appointed by King Alfred to preside in the University
of Oxford. — King Alfred educated in Ireland. — The English derived their
Letters, Education, and Laws, from Ireland.

We are now arrived at the close of the fifth century of the Christian
era. Ireland had enjoyed, for the previous eighteen hundred years, an
uninterrupted independence and a brilliant fame. She witnessed,
during those succeeding centuries, the fall of Carthage, the rise and fall
of Greece, the rise, career, and prostration of Rome. Carthage and
Greece had fallen the victims of Roman aggrandizement; and Rome
herself came down at last, the victim of her own tyranny and vice.
About the year of Christianity 476, we find the vast empire broken up,
and the Gothic kings seated on the thrones of the Caesars. From that
point back to the foundation of the imperial city by Romulus there
passed twelve hundred and twenty years. For five hundred years
after the erection of the city, there was no written history of Rome or
its people. The history of Ireland was commenced by Ambergin, the
Druid, thirteen hundred years before the Christian era, and eight or

GLIMPSE AT THE GREEKS AND ROMANS. 365

nine hundred before that of the imperial mistress of the world was
begun.

Ireland was a nation ere Rome had risen, and Ireland was in the
zenith of her nationality when she fell. For four centuries, the Irish
kept the arms of Rome fully employed in Britain, nor suffered one of
their soldiers to touch her holy earth ; and, in the end, her heroes,
O'Niall and Dathy, drove her eagles before them through the provinces
of Britain and France.

Glorious, glorious Erin ! her antiquity and her history may be paraded
against the grandeur of Rome and the refinement of Greece. The
ferocity and bestiality of the fofmer, and the slavery and imbecility of
the latter, find no copyists amongst the Irish. Of Rome I have said
much, of Greece little. We pardon much to Greece for her scholars ;
yet their knowledge consisted only of glimpses at the history of by-
gone nations : in architecture and sculpture they were proficients, but
they learned from Egypt ; of manufactures, mechanics, or commerce,
they knew httle ; in poetry, eloquence, and logic, they were masters ;
in music they were infants. Their republican forms of government
were stained by the most odious tyranny. When Greece was freest,
the slaves formed the actual majority of the inhabitants. To these the
free citizens were rigorous bond-masters. The condition of the people
under these governments was more servile and humiliating than any to
be found under the most despotic monarchies. The contraction of
debts was the source of bondage even between the free. Nor were the
richer classes independent ; they generally ranged into factions, sup-
porting rival politicians, and were influenced by corruption. "The
whole," says Tytler, " was a system of servility and debasement of
spirit which left nothing that could furnish material for encomium to a
real advocate for the dignity of human nature."

In the fifth century, Ireland, as we have seen, abjured the Druid
worship, and yielded her intellect to the doctrines of the cross.
Rome fell about this period, and the unbridled fury of the northern
nations, just expanding from the chains of her broken power, swept like
a tornado over Europe. All that was valuable in art or science was
covered in the chaos of eternal night. Art, literature, writings, every
thing, was buried in the graves which desolation peopled. For nearly
a hundred years, this carnage and commotion continued. The Latin
tongue, the language of Rome, and of some of her dependencies, was
corrupted by the jargon of all the other nations. Its spelling and
pronunciation were lost in the track of commotion. Many hundreds

366 STATE OF EUROPE IN THE FIFTH CENTURY.

fled from the theatre of contending armies to Ireland, the only spot ia
Europe that was found sacred to literature, — the sacred island, whose
gallant sons esteemed the wise and protected the weak.

The Gothic chiefs, as I have said, were seated in the palaces of the
Caesars, and the Saxon tribes, about the same time, had made a firm
footing in Britain. By the triumphant efforts of our Dathy, Gaul was
delivered from the Roman yoke, and a prince of the ancient Gaulish
line restored to the throne of that nation. He was the first free king
of the ancient race who reigned in that country for four hundred years,
or during the supremacy of the Romans. His name was Clodian ; but,
on his assumption of the government, he was called Chevelu, as he
wore his hair in long curls — a privilege denied to any of the Gaulish
people by their masters, for they were compelled by the Romans to
cut their hair short, as a mark of their subjection and slavery.

In Britain, the Saxons began to be important, and, as about this
time they first made a permanent footing in that country, a few digres-
sional remarks on their history may be acceptable.

Notwithstanding that the power of Rome was thoroughly subdued in
Britain by O'Niall and Dathy, there still remained some mean spirits in
that country, vv^ho, a little before her complete fall, hankered after her
honors, and tides, and appointments, — who Uved, in fact, by aiding
her in subjecting their own countrymen to her sway. We could
hardly believe so badly of humanity, but that we see instances of a
like degradation in too many Irishmen of the present day, who meanly
live by aiding or countenancing England in her oppressive subjuga-
tion of their country. The Irish monarch Loagaire, observing these
treacherous addictions in the chiefs of Britain, and seeing the temporary
successes of the Roman Actius in Gaul, became alarmed lest a new
invasion of Britain should be determined on. With the view of ren-
dering his own dominions the more secure, he encouraged an alliance,
offensive and defensive, between the Saxon tribes of Germany, the
Picts, and himself, for their mutual protection against Rome, especially
on British ground. The Irish monarch had had the address to induce
the most national of the old Britons to invite the Saxons into their
country, and to allot them lands to colonize and cultivate.

The Saxons thus got their first footing in England, and they, ob-
serving the effeminacy of the Britons, and the bias which many of
them manifested towards the sway of their tottering masters, formed the
design of seizing on the government. This seemed to be favored by
the Irish princes, on account of the protection it would afford their own

SAXONS OBTAIN A FOOTING IN ENGLAND. 367

territories; and this accordance between the Irish and Saxons was
increased on the defeat of Attila, in Gaul, by the Roman troops. Their
immediate wisdom was manifest in this alliance, though, in after ages,
it proved the cause of their own fall. They judged that, by keeping
the Roman arms as far off as possible, they were best protecting them-
selves ; for, should she succeed in reconquering England, then the
full force of her wrath would naturally be directed against Ireland, her
unconquerable enemy in the west ; and on this very point Tacitus had
given his opinion, three centuries before, to Agricola, as I have already
quoted.

O'Halloran says, this accounts for, and explains, the constant predi-
lection which the Irish then had for the Saxons ; the care they took to
reform their rude manners ; to instruct tliem in the principles of Chris-
tianity, and in letters ; to ordain bishops and priests on purpose for the
Saxon mission ; to found schools and seminaries for them in different
parts of the kingdom ; all which the Venerable Bede, a Saxon born,
fully proclaims by a variety of passages in his Ecclesiastical History of
Britain.

When the Romans abandoned South Britain, the native Britons
elected a king, whom they soon after dethroned. They proceeded to
elect other kings, whom they successively dethrone or murder. At
length, they fix on Vortigcm, a prince of the Dumnonii, or inhabitants
of Devon and Cornwall.

The first body of Saxons, at the invitation of Vortigern, landed, in
the year 449, at the Isle of Thanet, in three galleys, from the
north-west of Germany, under the leadership of two brothers, Hengist
and Horsa ; they engaged in the service of Vortigern, and agreed to
fight against his enemies for pay ; they were kindly received, and, in
a short time, they sent for further reenforcements, which soon after
arrived. In this second expedition there came Danes and Angles,
and also the handsome Rotvena, niece of Hengist, with whom the
British prince became smitten, and to whom he was soon after
wedded. This marriage brought about an alliance between the reigning
prince and his hired auxiliaries, of a very close and apparently friendly
character ; but the new-comers assuming more authority than the old
inhabitants deemed legitimate or safe, the latter expressed aloud their
dissatisfaction, and finally called for their dismissal from the service
of their prince, and their return to their own country. The Saxoas
refused to accede to this, and the unfortunate Britons, who had but just
got rid of one set of tyrants, had now to fight for existence against
another.

368 SAXONS SEIZE ON THE GOVERNMENT. SAXON MASSACRE.

A battle ensued between the Saxons and the native Britons in Kent,
and, though the former liad not the victory, yet Hengist, having, with
his own hand, killed the brother of the prince, took upon himself the
title of king of Kent. Two years after this, another great battle was
fought between the Saxons and native Britons, in which the former
were victorious, when Hengist ravaged the country in a merciless
manner, and the unfortunate inhabitants fled for safety to the distant
woods and mountains. The Britons then applied to the king of Brit-
tany, in France, for succor. He sent them Ambrosius, at the head of
ten thousand men ; but, through the jealousy of the local chiefs of the
old Britons, this force was rendered nugatory.

In 466, the war between the Saxons and Britons was again renewed.
It was in this war that the celebrated Prince Arthur, of Cornwall,
made his appearance at fourteen years of age. This war did not
change the features of the struggle.

Hengist, the chief of the Saxons, now meditated the blackest and
most atrocious deed that stains the page of history. Perhaps, in the
whole annals of the collected perfidy of mankind, there is nothing so
diabolical to be found.

On l!;e first arrival of the Saxons in Britain, Voriigem, the British
prince, fell in love with, and married, Roioena, the handsome niece
of Hengist. By him she had a daughter, who, when grown to
maturity, was given in marriage to Vortimer, the general-in-chief of
the old Britons. Hengist entered into a conspiracy with Rowena
to destroy this general, who was her own son-in-law, which she
accomplished by administering poison to him at an entertainment.
The conspiracy between this unnatural woman and her fiendish
uncle extended afterwards to the destruction " of her own husband,
and three hundred, of the chiefs of the Britons, under the fol-
lowing circumstances : Hengist gave a great entertainment, to
which, under pretence of agreeing to certain amicable conditions for
the peaceable settlement of the country, then under negotiation, Prince
Vortigern and three hundred of his chiefs were invited, who were
the heads of the noblest families in Britain. At the urgent
suggestion of this wicked woman, her husband and his chiefs and
captains accepted the invitation. In the midst of the banquet, the
prince and his three hundred chiefs were surrounded by a host of armed
Saxons, and all of them were foully butchered, one only escaping.
This occurred on the frst of May, 476, which was noted for ages
after as the day of Saxon treachery ; and, to mark the deed to the
execration of all posterity, Ambrosius erected a cromleagh, in Wiltshire.

THE HEPTARCHY. ORIGIN OF " ENGLAND." 369

Such were the means by which the Saxons first obtained power in
Britain ; such were the means by which they preserved that power
through succeeding ages ; such were the means by which they obtained
power and preserved it in unfortunate Ireland ; and such the means
by which they would have power every where.

Hengist, after the butchery of the prince and all his chiefs, was so
detested and feared by the inhabitants of the country he had thus got
possession of, that they fled from it, leaving tracts of land totally unin-
habited. Other Saxon hordes were invited over, who, however, had to
fight their way inch by inch to the possessions they sought. In 488,
Hengist died, at the age of sixty-nine, thirty-nine years of which he
reigned the king of Kent.

Other Saxon leaders appeared ; and in those times the celebrated
Prince Arthur defeated them in several battles ; and at Baden Hilt,
near Bath, Arthur gained an important victory, where he killed, it is
said, four hundred Saxons with his own hand.

In 542, a decisive battle was fought near Camelford, between
Arthur, at the head of the old Britons, and the Saxons. In this battle,
the valiant Arthur was killed : and, though the commander of the
Saxons fell on the same field, the death of Arthur so discouraged the
Britons, that a panic seized them, their hopes fell, and, with their brave
commander, their cause sank forever. Arthur was buried in Glaston-
bury, at the age of ninety, seventy -six of which he was in the field,
tr}nng to rid his country of her oppressors.

Multitudes of the Angles now appeared, and landed on the eastern
coast of Britain ; and finally the Saxons and Angles became so numer-
ous, that, in the year 585, they agreed to divide the kingdom into seven
principalities, to be called England, over each of which a supreme
king was appointed ; and this was called the Heptarchy, which con-
tinued from this period to the year 827, when another organic change
took place by the invasion of the Scandinavians, or Danes. The
ancient inhabitants were driven among the barren mountains of Wales,
which was called Cambria : they were ever, and are still, a distinct
race from the Angles and Saxons — distinct in blood, customs, and
language.

Anno 458 We now return to the direct history of the Milesian race,
which I resume at the year 458. The estates of Tara had been
called together to elect a successor to Laogaire, who, after reigning
thirty years, was killed by lightning. Oilioll Molt, the son of the
hero Dathy, was, by a plurality of voices, declared monarch. He
47

370 NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF TARA. TRADE CORPORATIONS.

was a Christian prince, and so were almost all the princes and nobility
of the kingdom at the time.

It was decreed, at that sitting, that the Christian bishops should
fill those seats in the national assembly formerly occupied by the
Druid Flamens, and that three bishops should always compose a
part of the committee for inspecting the different provincial histories?
instead of the three arch-Druids. This committee was more regu-
larly appointed after St. Patrick's preaching than previously. It
was composed of three bishops, three bards, and three antiquarians.
The monarch, or his delegate, was the president of this commonwealth.
All the records of the kingdom were subjected to the severest criticism
and inquiry.

Besides the general assembly of Tara, there were the provincial
assemblies regularly convened at Cruachan in Connaught, and Emania
in Ulster, for the close inspection of trade, commerce, and the
mechanic arts. These provincial assemblies met, by proclamation of
the monarch, to make their reports on those matters so connected with
the happiness of the people. Sixty of the best-informed were com-
missioned to disperse themselves into the chief cities and manufac-
turing towns, to see if the exclusive privileges granted to them were in
any manner abused, or if any article was made so inferior as to defraud
the purchaser, or damage the national character.

Such were the wise methods by which our great ancestors preserved
their country free and happy, whilst other nations of Europe were
reduced to the greatest distress and confusion, owing to the absence of
sound legislation. How different are her affairs conducted in modern
times ! Though Scotland has her board of trade, established no earlier
than 1715; though England has her board of trade, established no
earlier than the reign of Elizabeth ; though France, Belgium, Holland,
and all the European nations, have their boards of trade, — Ireland alone
had no board of trade since the "Union," until the humble individual
who writes this record established one^ under the auspices of the Very
Reverend Dr. Flanagan, in 1840, based on the voluntary subscriptions
of the citizens of Dublin. That board is still continued by the Liber-
ator and the patriotic repealers of Ireland. It worked wonders in
awaking attention to the neglected manufactures of Ireland, some fabrics
of which, in beauty and durability, are not to be excelled in Europe.

Anno 478. In this year, Lughaidh, the son of Laogaire, became
monarch of Ireland. His reign was one of troubles. Though the in^
fluence of Christianity softened the combatants, yet history is grieved to

REIGN OF LUGHAIDH. PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY. 371

record the shedding of much blood by rival factions. The Christian reli-
gion had now made great progress in Ireland. During St. Patrick's
mission, upwards of seven hundred religious houses were built and con-
secrated. Besides these, the celebrated St. Bridget founded her famous
monastery in Kildare, anno 480, for which she formed particular rules.
She was the daughter of Dubhtach, a Leinster captain ; was born 45.3 ;
took the veil, at the age of thirteen, from the hands of St. M' Caile.
She lived to seventy yeare of age ; and, from the day of her vow to
the day of her death, she was daily gaining in spiritual perfection. She
was not only canonized after death, but declared perpetual patroness
of Leinster. The fame of her sanctity spread over Europe, and at
Seville in Spain, at Lisbon, at Placentia in Italy, at Tours, Cologne,
and even in London, the Christians dedicated churches to her. Parents
were anxious to give her name to their children ; and every where
her life was imitated by the pious virgins, who dedicated themselves to
a retired communion with their Maker. She wrote several books
on various subjects ; amongst these, Rules for the Nuns of her own
Foundation ; a Poem to St. Patrick ; also the Life of St. Patrick.
She founded the convent, monastery, and the cathedral of Kildare, a
round tower near which is yet standing.

On the right and left sides of the old cathedral of Kildare were
placed monuments and statues of St. Bridget and St. Conlaith, highly
finished, and ornamented with precious stones, gold, and silver. From
the old descriptions of this cathedral, there is evidence of a very high
excellence in the science of architecture. And Cambrensis, the un-
friendly historian of Ireland, confesses to have examined, with astonish-
ment, amongst other relics and curiosities of the church, a Concordance
of the four Gospels, written for the use of St. Bridget, the margin of
which was ornamented with mystic pictures, most wonderfully and
animatingly finished ; the writing, but particularly the capital letters,
so highly ornamented, that, says he, " neither the pencil of Apelles,
nor the chisel of a Lysippus, ever formed the like; in a word, they seem
to have been formed by something more than a mortal hand."

Anno 503, Mortough, of the house of Niall, was chosen monarch
of Ireland. He was an excellent Christian, and his queen, Sabina,
led so exemplary a life as to be ranked amongst the saints of Ireland.
Several kings succeeded each other in Ireland ; but, as their reigns
furnish nothing beyond the average course of events, I will pass them
over.

In the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth centuries, the attention,

372 SPIRIT OF THE IRISH CHRISTIANS. LISMORE.

labors, and enthusiasm, of the nation, seem to have been exclusively
directed to the erection of churches, monasteries, and colleges. In
these monasteries large numbers of religious men assembled. They
were governed by different local rules established by their founders.
Prayer, labor, and the instruction of the ignorant, seem to have been
their exclusive occupation. Their times for prayer were frequent both
by night and by day. In all the monasteries, they rose twice or thrice
in the night to pray and sing. In the daytime, they labored in their
fields, having none but themselves to cultivate their lands and raise
provisions. They returned frequently fram their fields to their churches
to offer prayer. Some of those pious men, better fitted with patience
and knowledge than the others, were the teachers of youtb. Instruc-
tion was universally communicated, free of charge, to the agricultural
population surrounding those monasteries. In all probability, the youth,
thu^ gratuitously taught, were. grateful to their kind-hearted preceptors,
and did them, in return, many generous offices in their building oper-
ations and harvest-work. A relationship of a most endearing nature
grew up between the inhabitants of those peaceful tenements and the
surrounding country, and a sanctified happiness seems to have pervaded
the entire nation.

There were many of those societies whose rules were more rigid than
the others ; some permitted no woman to enter their gates ; others lived
altogether on herbs, and drank nought but water. There seemed to be
an emulation between these several communities towards purity and
holiness, which stamped on the })eople that character of sanctity which
contemporary nations so much admired and applauded.

" Lismore is a holy city, into the half of which, there being an
asylum, no woman dare enter ; it w.as filled with cells and holy mon-
asteries, and a number of holy men are always in it. The religious
fiow to it from every part of Ireland, England, and Britain, anxious to
emigrate to Christ ; and the city itself is situate on the southern bank
of the river, formerly called Ne7n, lately called Aben-Mor, i. e., a great
river in the district of Nandesus." — Allemand's Monastic History of
Ireland.

This famous seat of learning was celebrated, even in pagan times, for
its literary fame. It is situated in the south of Ireland, on the banks of
the River Blackwater, which runs into the Atlantic at Youghal.
Perhaps, through all creation, there is not a more lovely spot. It
was a famous seat of literature long previous to the times of St. Patrick.
It was here Cataldus studied and King Cormac w^as educated ; here St.

ABSENTEES. ORIGIX OF THE SOCIETIES OF HOLY MEN. 373

Donat taught, and Cormac of Cashell was entombed. It was the
sepulchre of sages and kings for many ages ; and, when the cross was
raised upon its time-honored towers, the pious of the European nations
came thither to worship and be instructed. The College of Lismore
educated more students, during the ages of its Christian fame, than
have Oxford and Cambridge together, since their foundation.

Lismore, as a Christian university, was liberally endowed with lands
for its maintenance. The produce of these lands was spent amongst
the people that raised it, brightening their intellects and nourishing
their persons. Education was offered to every body free of charge.

During the reformation, in tlie sixteenth century, Lismore and its lands
were seized on by Queen Elizabeth, and given to Boyle, the ancestor of
the present Duke of Devonshire. He was a soldier of fortune, who
came to Ireland with nothing but his sword and a patent to rob from
the virgin queen. The pious and learned inhabitants of Lismore were
put to the sword ; their lands and effects were seized ; the light of
education was extinguished, and the open hand of hospitality was closed
forever. The ■' noble " proprietor and his successors became absentees.
These lands were put into the hands of an agent. The rich produce,
the herds, and flocks, and grain, and provisions, raised by the poor
people who inhabit them, were thenceforward carried over to England
to feed a race tliat despise them. The Duke of Devonshire is con-
tinually absent ; he spends all this substance in the gayest parts of
Europe, and his tenants are considered well off, if the able-bodied
men get sixpence a day for their labor. The case of Lismore
is the case of all Ireland.

Whether the institutions of holy brotherhoods of monks had their origin
in Ireland or elsewhere, we have no very distinct means of ascertaining.
It is certain that, on St. Patrick's arrival in the country, he found
more than one society existing. The monks of St. Ailhe, and those
of St. Dedan and St. Kievan, were established in Ireland long be-
fore his time." Before the establishment of the two great societies by
St. Benedict and St. Augustine, there were established in Ireland thir-
teen distinct orders, viz., those of St. Ailbe, St. Declan, St. Kievan,
St. Patrick, St. Columb, St. Carthach, St. Molua, St. Moctee, St.
Colnan, St. Finian, St. Columbanus, St. Brendan, and the order
instituted by St. Bridget for females. All these orders differed one
from the other, not only in their dress, tonsure, food, and retirement,
but likewise in the names of those who had been their founders.
The abbeys and monasteries connected with each order were dis-

374 ACKNOWLEDSMENT OF THE GERMANS.

tinct in name, possessions, and rules ; and these rules were totally
independent of those of any other brotherhood on the continent.
Indeed, there are but a few faint records of the monkish orders in
any part of the continent, till the times of St. Augustine and St.
Benedict, the former of whom flourished in the fourth and the latter
in the seventh century. These two societies endeavored to blend
all the existing orders with their own. But it appears that one
only of the thirteen Irish orders joined them at first, namely, that of
Columbanus. In the course of time, however, the remainder became
blended with one or other of these extensive orders.

Before this junction, the Irish missionaries had already established
their orders in France and Germany. St. Columbanus and St. Gall
had travelled from Ireland, in the close of the sixth century, through
France, Italy, Switzerland, and many parts of Germany, and had built
several monasteries and churches in all those countries, some of which
exist to this day.

The order of monks, or holy brotherhoods, was thus introduced into
some parts of Europe by Irish missionaries ; and the rules and church
music of Ireland were introduced at the same time. Whether any such
orders existed in Europe previous to their first establishment in Ireland,
we have no means of ascertaining. It is said, traditionally, there were
some orders in the isles of the Mediterranean and in Alexandria ; but
there is no very distinct record of their existence.

The Germans of the present day honorably acknowledge their
Christian and literary indebtedness to Ireland. In the present year, an
address of sympathy has been drawn up by some of the heads of the
German colleges, directed to Daniel O'Connell, in which ancient Ire-
land is thus spoken of: —

" It would, indeed, be divesting ourselves [the people of Germany]
of all human sentiments, if we were not to entertain the deepest and
sincerest sympathy for the ill-treated people of your isle, sighing under
>the yoke, and still reeking from the streams of shed blood. But want
of sympathy on our part would, moreover, involve the blackest ingrati-
tude. We never can forget to look upon your beloved country as our
mother in religion, that already, at the remotest periods of the Chris-
tian era, commiserated our people, and readily sent forth her spiritual
sons to rescue our pagan ancestor's from idolatry, at the sacrifice of her
own property and blood, and to entail upon them the blessings of the
Christian faith. They thus have made us their, and their nation's,
spiritual children, and laid up a store of merits for the people of Ireland,

RELIGIOUS SPIRIT OF THE IRISH.

375

which only base indifference and want of all good feeling could be
unmindful of, and which just now presents itself the more vividly to our
memory, the more ive behold the native land of those faithful apostles
delivered over to undeserved misfortune by hijustice." — German
Address to Daniel O' Connell, dated April, 1844.

This combined expression of sympathy and gratitude, from a people
so enlightened as the Germans, is peculiarly .cheering to the oppressed
Irishman, and is animating beyond measure, at this moment, to the Irish
exile.

So numerous were the literary and religious foundations established
by those people, that the island, says the Abbe M'Geoghegan, " was
called, by way of preeminence, from the number of saints it had
produced, Insula Sanctorum, the ' Island of Saints.' " The number,
indeed, was so great, that Colgan observed, not without reason, in the
preface to his life of the Irish saints, that " what is at present said of
them is scarcely credible."

"Besides, Ireland can, in comparison with the rest of Europe, boast
of having been at that time a seminary of sanctity, whither the Chris-
tians of other nations came in crowds, to learn the practice of Christian
virtue, and from whence a considerable number of saints went forth
daily, and dispersed themselves throughout the different parts of Europe,
where they founded famous abbeys, the monuments of which are still
to be seen, so that Ireland might be called, in that golden age, ' in
aureis illis seminatce Fidei primordiis,^ the Thebaid of the west. It
even appears, says Allemand, that, at that time, it was sufBcient to be
an Irishman, or to have been in Ireland, to be considered holy, and
become the immediate founder of some abbey. Whilst the rest of
Europe was a prey to the most dreadful catastrophes and astonishing
revolutions, Divine Providence bestowed upon this peaceful island
graces and blessings which strangers went thither to be partakers of."

A mere catalogue of the religious and literary institutions which they
erected would fill a score of pages, that might not, after all, be so inter-
BStino- to the general American reader as other matter presented in Irish
history. It may be sufficient to say, that, in every district of five
square miles in Ireland, institutions of this kind were established. In
these were deposited all the books and literary remains of former ages.
[n the abbey of Fathan, near Inisowen, there was found a large
book of chronology, filled with many historical passages concerning
other nations, from which the antiquarian frequently quoted. Colgan
said, that, in his time, there were still some fragments of it remaining,
which had escaped the fury of the reformers of later ages..

376 REFLECTIONS ON THE INFLUENCE OF RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION

In Armagh, Usher found those precious tomes of antiquity, which he
wrought, with so much genius, to his own advantage and renown.
Cashell, Tuam, St. Finbars, and other such pious depositories, yielded
their rich literary and chronological treasures to the modern historian.
The rich library of Lismore, seized on by Boyle, afforded his son,
the Earl of Orrery, that immense store of knowledge of science and
astronomy which shone out through him as original conceptions.

;S'^. Fachanus founded an academy at Ross, in the county of Cork,
which soon grew into a city, and which is ranked by Ware as one of
the principal academies of this age. The university of Clonard, next to
that of Benchoir, was greatly celebrated. In it, under St. Finian, were
no less a number than three thousand scholars at one time ; in that of
Armagh, there were seven thousand.

The great St. Bernard, an Italian writer of the twelfth century, says
that, " in the sixth century, under St. ComhgiU, the monastery of
Benchoire was a most noble one, containing many thousand monks,
and itself the chief of many monasteries. So fruitful was it of holy
men, and multiplying so greatly to the Lord, that Luanus alone, a
subject of this house, founded no less than one hundred monasteries.

" This T mention," continues he, " that the reader may form an idea
of the number of religious that existed in these days in Ireland."

The zeal and piety of these holy monks, he tells us, were not con-
6ned to Ireland, but, like an inundation, their saints spread piety and
virtue over all Europe.

A list of the religious, literary, and scientific books, written in this
age, has been furnished by the historians, but they form quite a cata-
logue. It is true that the majority of these works consist of the lives
of saints, and are occupied with other pious subjects, and may not be
highly appreciated by the Uluminaii of the present age. There are
some, however, of the pious descendants of the great race of which
those men were part, who appreciate their worth, and still would imitate
their pious examples. One of the great objects these despised men ever
had in view was, to improve the human heart, and call forth from its
recesses charity, philanthropism, hospitality, and a thorough contempt of
riclies, — to subdue or root out that curse of the human mind, covetous-
ness, a vice from which the majority of the troubles of families and of
nations has proceeded. That besetting sin begins in infancy: the
child, covetous of toys and coppers, grows to manhood, and becomes
covetous of wealth. It is the business of religion to purge this and
other deteriorating passions from the human mind.

IN FORMING THE GOOD CITIZEN. 377

But where religion forms not the good citizen, neither can the law.
The purity and force of the law proceeds from that purity, integrity,
and innate love of justice, which religion only can engender and pre-
serve in the human heart. Without religion, the general is susceptible
of treachery, the judge of partiality, the public magistrate of bribery,
and the public officer of 'peculation.

The order of Heaven is equality, and a common participation, here
and hereafter, in its blessings. Any serious deviation from this order
produces misery in the community in which it arises. We all come
into the world and go out of it on a perfect equality. The baby of the
monarch or the president, and the baby of the humblest in society,
are equally helpless, equally pleased or grieved by the self-same causes,
and experience the self-same sensations of pleasure or pain. The
differences that arise between us in after life proceed from a variety of
subsequent circumstances, including the gifts of a sound, capacious
mind, derived most frequently from a serene, religious, and healthy
parentage, — or a mind of an opposite nature, derived from an opposite
source. A mind derived from the former source, if instructed by the
genius o^ religion and charity, expands into a most perfect human being.

Heaven points its finger of scorn at the accumulations of the cov-
etous, and the tinsel dignity of the worldly great, by blessing poor and
lowly parents with children who become the very lords of intellect.

When the mind expands without the governing power of religion,
the worst kind of human passions grow and increase, and in pro-
portion to the capacity with which the individual is endowed, so in
that degree does he become more and more mischievous to mankind.

Sir James Mackintosh remarks, on the tendency of the old Irish
writers to celebrate the most learned, virtuous, and pious of men,
instead of the most warlike, " The vast collections of the lives of
saints often throw light on public events, and open glimpses into the
habits of men in those times. * * * The whole force of this noble
attempt to exalt human nature was at this period spent on the lives of
saints — a sort of moral heroes, or demigods, without some acquaint-
ance with whom it is hard to comprehend an age when the com-
memoration of the virtues then most venerated, as imbodied in those
holy men, was the principal theme of the genius of Christendom."

The degree of eminence, in literature and science, to which the Irish

nation attained, is hardly to be credited, and would not be admitted on

the authority of their own historians, whose partiality for their country,

or whose vanity, might be supposed to influence their descriptions,

378 OPINIONS OF BEDE AND CAMDEN. LABORS OF CATALDUS.

But the united testimony of a crowd of foreign authors, ancient and
modern, from Bade to Monsieur Michelet, suppHes proofs that must
remove all doubt about the facts.

- " Besides the number of monasteries that had been founded in Ire-
land, and which were peopled with saints and learned monks not inferior
to the fathers of the deserts for the austerity of their lives and total
abandonment of the world, Ireland supplied all Europe, during these
a^es, with swarms of zealous missionaries, who announced the name of
Jesus Christ amongst some nations, and among others caused it to
revive." — Bede.

The English Camden remarks, " The disciples of Patrick made so
great a progress in Christianity, that, in the following age, Ireland was
called the Island of Saints; and none could be more holy and learned
than the Irish monks, both in their own country and Britain, who sent
swarms of most holy men iiito all Europe. To them, Luxovium in
Burgundy, Bohiense in Italy, Hornipolis in Franconia, St. Gallus in
Helvetia, Malmesburia in Lindefarn, and many other monasteries in
Britain, owe their origin. The following saints were from Ireland :
Celius Sedulius, (presbyter,) Columba, Columbanus, Colmanus, Aidanus,
Gallus, Kilianus, Maidulphus, Brendanus, and many others, who were
renowned for their sanctity and learning."

The eminent Cataldus deserves the attention of the historian and the
reader. Born in Ireland, he made his studies in the celebrated College
of Lismore. Here, according to Usher, he was the delight of the foreign
students, who flocked to that celebrated seat of literature for knowledge :
" A youth, endowed with a hberal discipline, soon attained to that ex-
cellence in instructions, that the Gauls, English, Teutones, Scotch, and
other neighboring people, who came to Lismore, flocked to hear him."
Having performed the functions of bishop of Rathheny, in Ireland, some
years, he undertook a voyage to Jerusalem, to visit the holy sepulchre,
and, returning through Italy, he re'cstahlished the Christian religion
amongst the Tarentines, who had already abandoned it, and returned to
the impious worship of idols. The inhabitants of Tarentum adopted
him as their patron saint, and on his death erected a silver monument
over his tomb. It is said by Usher and Ware, that he foretold the
destruction of Naples. He preached in the fifth century. Usher con-
cludes his notice of him in these remarkable words : " Rejoice, O happy
Ireland, for being the country of so fair an offspring ; but thou, Taren-
tum, rejoice still more, which encloses (within a tomb) so great a treas-
ure!"

SEDULIUS. FRIDOLINTJS. 379

Sedulius, a native of Hibernia, according to Usher, was a most
eminent scholar, who travelled through Europe, studied and lectured
at Rome, wrote several works in prose and verse, some of them theo-
logical, some historical, some biographical : he also wrote some hymns,
which were adopted by the council of the church at Rome. The
works of Sedulius were highly esteemed by the ancients ; to which a
council, composed of seventy bishops, assembled at Rome during the
pontificate of Gelasius, bears a favorable testimony. " We think highly,^'
said the fathers of the council, ''of the paschal work, written in heroic
verse, by the venerable Sedulius/' Moore has the following, in reference
to this learned man : " A far loftier flight of sacred song was at the same
time [fifth century] ventured by an Irish writer abroad, the poet Shell ;
in Irish, Seidhuil, Latinized Sedulius. Among other writings of
acknowledged merit, he was the author of a spirited poem in iambics,
upon the life of Christ. From this poem the Catholic church has
selected some of her most beautiful hymns.'' Sedulius wrote in 448,
more than a century before the time of Pope St. Gregory. Hilde-
phonsus, archbishop of Toledo, says of our author, that he was an
evangelical poet, an eloquent orator, and a Catholic writer — "bonus
ille Sedulius, poeta evangelicus, orator facundus, scriptor Catholicus."
Lastly, the church inserted " A soUs ortus cardine/' and " Hostis
Herodes impie," (taken from the writings of Sedulius,) in the breviary
of hymns, the first at the nativity of our Savior, and the last at the
Epiphany, with the " Salve, sancta parens, enixa puei'pera Regem,"
which is used as an introit at the masses of the blessed Virgin.

St. Fridolinus, son of an Irish king, having embraced a monastic life,
left his country, and travelled through several parts of Germany and
France, about the end of the fifth century, and in the time of Clovis,
fii'st Christian king of the Franks ; on which account he was called
" Fridolinus the traveller," by Judocus, Coccius, Possevin, and others.
After preaching the gospel in different parts of Gaul, he withdrew for
some time to the monastery of St. Hilary, at Poitiers, of which he was
created superior. He afterwards founded several religious houses in
Thuringia, Alsace, Strasburg, and on the fi'ontiers of Switzerland ;
Colgan reckons eight, six of which were dedicated to St. Hilary, for
whom this saint had a particular devotion. Lastly, he founded a mon-
astery for females in an island in the Rhine, called Seeking or Secane,
where he was interred in 514. According to Baleus, he wrote some
works of piety which have been lost. The Scotch writers claim this

380 ' St. COLUMB EILLE.

great man for their country ; but M'Geoghegan, from whom I take the
above, brings up a crowd of foreign authorities who confound the idea.
One or two only of his foreign authors shall I here quote. " The con-
vent of Seeking was commenced by St. Fridolinus, who was son of a
king of the Scots; he was eminent for his studies in philosophy." —
Bruschius on German Monasteries, — " Old historians are agreed in
this, that' Fridolinus was of royal descent, that he was born in Lower
Scotia, which is called Ireland." — Peter Canisius, Life of St. Frido-
linus.

St. Columb Kille was born in the beginning of the sixth century : he
lived to the age of seventy-seven, thirty-three years of which were spent
in North Britain, conducting the light of the gospel to the Picts and
Scots. He was educated in Ireland, under St. Fridian, who be-
came afterwards bishop of Lucca, in Italy. He acquired a com-
plete knowledge of the learned languages and divinity, in the College
of Clonard, where there were, at that time, three thousand students.
After this, he became abbot of a monastery in Deny.

It was the law of the Tara Jies, or parliament, that any man who
should raise up the hand to strike, much less to kill, during its legislati\e
deliberations, should be deemed guilty of death, out of the power of lire
monarch to pardon. In the year 549, there took place at Tara a fatal
quarrel between Cuornane M^Aodh and another member of the great
assembly, in which the latter was killed. As the crime was death,
the offender flew to his friends Daniel and Fergus, princes of great
power; but they durst not harbor him, and advised him to go to
their cousin, St. Columba, and, by imploring his protection, he might
afford him an asylum in his monastery; for, in those days, the
criminal who became penitent, and remained within the walls of a
monastery, was held harmless from the process or punishment of the
law. Cuornane, accordingly, applied to Columba, and was admitted
to his monastery in Derry. But a national outrage of this sort was
not to go unpunished ; and Dermod, the king, had the offender
dragged out of the monastery, and put to death, notwithstanding the
prayers and protests of the brothers to the contrary.

Columba deemed the violation of his asylum the cause of God.
High in blood, he could not brook this insult : he therefore applies to
his relations, the northern Clana Neill; and Fergus and Domhnal, at
the head of a mighty army, are in the field, to vindicate the insulted
abbot. A terrible battle is fought at Cuildreimhne, between the pro-

COLUMBA FOUNDS THE MONASTERY AND COLLEGE OF BY. 381

vincials and the chief monarch's army, in which the abbot's party
gain the day. The vanquished party recruit their strength, and in turn
make war upon the abbot.

He is requested by his bishop to abstain from all interference in such
terrible affairs. Disregarding the admonition, a synod of the clergy is
held, before which Columba is cited to appear. He submits to their
decision in his regard, and their decision is, that he shall quit Ireland,
and never see her again. To this he submits, with a truly repentant
spirit. His public reprehension, and his penitentiary exile, do great
honor to the clerical order and discipline of those days.

On his arrival in Albion, with a goodly number of brothers, he was
kindly received by Conall, prince of the Dal Rhida, who bestowed
on him the Isle of Huy, or Hy. Here he established his chief monas-
tery ; and from thence, with his followers, he entered the country of the
Picts, and by his zeal, his preaching, his precept and example, con-
verted the whole country.

In the year 574, when Aodh was monarch of Ireland, a special par-
liament was called in Tara, for the purpose of taking some decided steps
to collect in the yearly tribute, due by Albania to the Irish crown ;
also, to enact some regulations as to colleges. At this great assembly
the Albanians were represented, and amongst others, who came upon
this memorable occasion, was Columba, attended by twenty bishops,
forty priests, and fifty deacons. As part of the sentence imposed upon
Columba, on quitting Ireland, was, that he should never more see the
country, he complied literally with this penance, for he had his eyes
bound up from the time of quitting Scotland to his return home.

He was received with great ceremony and respect in Ireland, and the
grand assembly, in which mingled his voice and wisdom, abolished many
abuses that existed in schools, and in other departments of state.

St. Columba composed several works in prose and verse ; amongst
others, a Rule for Monks, which still exists, the Life of St. Patrick, and
a Hymn to St. Kieran. These I have already noticed in the section on
music. There were many works of piety and prophecy written by this
eminent man. He was entombed, at his death, amongst the great
chiefs of Scotland, in the abbey of Hy, in 597 ; but part of his remains
were removed, in the beginning of the ninth century, to the monastery
of Down, where they were deposited with those of St. Patrick and St.
Bridget, as already noticed.

Rich as have been the annals of Ireland in names of samtly renown,
for none has she cherished, in all ages, a greater reverence than for her

382 COLUMBANDS.

great Columb Kille. That isle of the waves (Hy) with which his name
is connected, and which, through his ministry, became the " Luminary
of the Caledonia Regions, has far less reason," says Moore, " to boast
of her tombs of kings, than of those heaps of votive pebbles, cast by
pilgrims along the path which took them to the honored shrine of her
saint. From this immemorial custom, the island was denominated
lona. There is a splendid copy of the Four Gospels, in the hand-
writing of Columb Kille, now deposited in Trinity College, Dublin.
Usher, O'Flaherty, and other antiquarians, have authenticated it.
It is indeed amongst the most precious relics of the early Christians.
Speaking of lona, Dr. Johnson writes : " We are now treading that
illustrious island, which was once the luminary of the Caledonia regions.
That man is litde to be envied whose patriotism would not gain force
upon the plain of Marathon, or whose piety would not grow warmer
upon the ruins of lona." — Journey to the Western Islands.

The eminent Columbanus performed a distinguished part in his time.
He was a native of Leinster, in Ireland. In his youth he had been a
diligent student of grammar and languages. Early in life, he was a per-
fect master of his own tongue, as well as those of Greece, Rome, Spain,
and other nations. He wrote several commentaries on the Scriptures,
Psalms, and other religious subjects, which were the chief topics of the
scholars of the age. He studied under very eminent men in the Irish
colleges, and finally placed himself under the instruction of the chief of
the abbey of Benchoir, from whence he subsequently departed, with
twelve disciples, to go to Britain, and from thence to Burgundy. In
the latter country he was received by the king, Sigebert, with every
possible mark of respect ; for bis fame had travelled before him. This
prince offered him lands for a settlement in any part of his dominions.
Columbanus fixed on Luxeu, in the desert, at the foot of the mountains
of Vosge, where he founded a celebrated monastery, in which he estab-
lished his order, and the perpetual psalmody, by different choirs, who
relieved each other day and night. He was the first who established
the monastic order among the French. The order of St. Columbanus
was then considered the model of a retired life, and Luxeu as the centre
of perfection. The number of persons, of every rank and condition,
who wished to submit to the law of St. Columbanus, was so great, that,
in order to lighten the burden on the house of Luxeu, he was obliged to
found another at Fontaine, in the same country.

Columbanus had been, for nearly twenty years, at the head of the
monastery of Luxeu, when he was expelled through the influence of

COLUMBANUS'S MISSION IN FRANCE AND ITALT. 383

Brunehaut. This ambitious queen shared the government of Burgundy
with her grandson Thierry the Second, who was king. Fearing that
the marriage of this prince would diminish her authority, she endeavored
to dissuade him from it, by procuring him illicit pleasures, which ex-
cited the zeal of St. Columbanus, who reproached him severely for the
shameful life he led. The prince, who had a high opinion of the sanctity
of St. Columbanus, heard him patiently ; but the intrigues of Brunehaut,
who had prejudiced all the nobles of the kingdom against him, forced
him to yield to the storm, by leaving his monastery at Luxeu. Not-
withstanding this, our saint was favorably received by Clothaire the
Second, king of Suissons, to whom he foretold that in three years
the French monarchy would be united in his person, which prophecy
was afterwards accomplished.

St. Columbanus, having preached the word of God in several prov-
inces in France, and confirmed his doctrine by miracles too numerous to
be introduced here, went to Italy, where, with the approbation of Aigi-
lulph, king of the Lombards, he founded the abbey of Bobbio, in Milan,
over which he presided but one year, having died there on the 21st of
November, 615, and was succeeded by a native of Burgundy, called
Atala.

The Augustine monks affirm that St. Columbanus was of their order ;
but Reyner says that he was a Benedictine.

St. Columbanus wrote many works in Latin, which are quoted by
Ware and others ; namely, a book of commentaries on the Psalter ; a
work against the Arians, which Jonas calls " a work of flowery eru-
dition ; " and thirteen homilies.

" The writings of this eminent man," says Moore, " that have come
down to us, display an extensive and varied acquaintance, not merely
with ecclesiastical, but with classical literature. He was acquainted
both with Greek and Hebrew, as well as Latin and that of his own
country, [the English language did not then exist ;] and when it is recol-
lected that he did not leave Ireland till he was nearly fifty years of age,
and that his life afterwards was one of constant activity and adventure,
the conclusion is obvious, that all this knowledge of elegant literature
must have been acquired in the schools of his own country. The vari-
ous countries and places with which the name of this great saint is con-
nected, have multiplied his lasting titles to fame. While Ireland boasts
of his birth, France remembers him by her ancient abbeys of Luxeuil and
Fontaine; and his fame in Italy still lives, not only in the cheiished
relics at Bobbio ; in the coffin, the chalice, the holy staff of the founder;

384 GALL. JONAS. FIACRE.

and the strange sight of a Missal in the Irish language, in a foreign land,
but in the every-day remembrance of his name, which lives in the beau-
tiful town of San Columbano, in the territory of Lodi."

St. Gall, who accompanied Columbanus, was born, of noble parents,
in Ireland ; was placed, at an early age, according to his life, written by
Wailafridus Straboj under the guidance of St. Columbanus, with whom
he made considerable progress in the study of the Holy Scriptures, the
liberal arts, grammar, and poetry, and in the practice of regular discipline.
He passed through a variety of adventures and sufferings, in his efforts
to spread the religion of the cross. He finally died near his holy cell,
near which the monastery called after him was erected, and round
which the populous town of St. Gall, in Switzerland, now stands. There
are some manuscripts deposited in this celebrated abbey in the hand-
writing of St. Gall, and his preceptor, St. Columbanus. They are
probably amongst the oldest in Europe.

The immediate companions and disciples of these two learned and
holy men founded several abbeys in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and
France. I compress from M'Geoghegan, Moore, and O'Halloran, some
particulars of a few only of the Irish missionaries of that age.

Dichuill (in Latin, DlchuUus and Deicola) was half brother of St.
Gall, and, like him, a disciple of St. Columbanus. He obtained per-
mission to remain in Burgundy, where he founded, at a few leagues
from Luxeu, the celebrated monastery of Lure, (in Latin, Lutra, or
" Lutrense monasterium.") Theodore, a monk of St. Campden, who
had accompanied St. Gall from Ireland, of which he was a native,
shared with him the labors of the apostleship. After the death of St.
Gall, he founded two cells in Germany, one at Campden, or Campi-
dana, the government of which he confided to his colleague Theodore,
and the other at Fuessen, (in Latin, " ad Fauces,") at the foot of
the Alps. Those cells, having been richly endowed by King Pepin,
became afterwards celebrated abbeys.

Among the disciples of St. Columbanus may be reckoned Jonas,
abbot of Luxeu before the middle of the seventh century.

Jonas wrote, in Latin, the life of St. Columbanus, to which he had
been an eye-witness ; he also wrote the Uves of Atala and Eustachius,
both disciples and successors of St. Columbanus ; the former at Bobbio,
the latter at Luxeu.

Fiacre, born of noble parents in Ireland, being desirous of devoting
himself to God in solitude, left his country, and went to France, accom-
panied by some disciples. He addressed himself to Faron, bishop of

AIDAN. 385

Meaux, who received him with kindness, and gave him the forest of
Brodole, which belonged to him, with permission to settle there.

Bede has the following passage in reference to St. Fiacre : —

" Ireland is dignified by the lustre of a new lamp ; that island glitters
to the Meldi, by the presence of so great a light. The former sent
Fiacrius ; Meaux received the ray which was sent. The joy of both is
in common : the latter possesses a father, tHe former a son." — Bede's
History of the Church.

St. Aidan was a monk of the abbey of Hy, the members of which
were Scots from Ireland, the Picts having given that island to St. Col-
umb Kille, and to the Scotic monks who had preached the faith of Jesus
Christ amongst them, as appears from Bede. From that abbey, there-
fore, were the twelve disciples who had accompanied this apostle to
Britain, as is remarked in his life, besides some others who had after-
wards followed him from Ireland. The connection, says Moore, of the
venerable Irishman St. Aidan with the Anglo-Saxon King Oswald,
singularly illustrates the mutual relations of their respective countries
at this period. During the reign of his uncle Edwin, the young Oswald
had lived an exile in Ireland ; and, having been instructed, while there, in
the doctrines of Christianity, resolved, on his accession to the throne, to
disseminate the same blessing among his subjects. With this view he ap-
plied to the elders of the Scots among whom he had himself been taught,
desiring that they would furnish him with a bishop, through whose in-
struction and ministry the English nation, which he had been called
upon to gpvern, might receive the Christian faith. In compliance with
the royal desire, a monk of Hy, named Aidan, was sent, to whom, on
his arrival, the king gave the small island of Lindisfarn as the seat of
his see. This island has since been called the Holy Isle.

In the spiritual labors of the saint's mission the pious King Oswald
took constandy a share, and " it was often," says Bede, " a delightflil
spectacle to witness, that, when the bishop, who knew but imperfectly
the English tongue, preached the truths of the gospel, the king himself,
who had become master of the Scottish language during his long banish-
ment in Ireland, acted as interpreter of the word of God to his com-
manders and ministers. From that time," continues the same authority,
" numbers of Scottish or Irish poured daily into Britain, preaching the
faith, and administering baptism through all the provinces over which
King Oswald reigned. In every direction churches were erected, to
which the people flocked with joy to hear the word. Possessions were
granted by royal bounty for the endowment of monasteries and schools,
49

386 IRISH MISSIONARIES AMONGST THE SAXONS.

and the English, old and young, were instructed by their Irish teachers."
Though St. Augustine is reported the patron saint of England, arriving
in that country, 597, with forty rnissionaiies, to complete the conversion
of England, yet, says O'Halloran, the honor of converting England
should be by no means ascribed alone to him. Some of the Scottish
writers, of latter times, will have it, that all these instructors came from
Scotland, because the term "Scots" had been, a thousand years ago,
applied to natives of Ireland and Albania indifferently. But how will
they get rid of the great fact that their own nation owed its direct con-
version and evangelical light to the apostolic labors of the Irish saint
Columb Kille and his pious brethren ?

We must own that it is hard upon wealthy, inflated people, like the
English and Scotch of the present day, to acknowledge their great in-
debtedness, for literature, laws, religion, music, and letters, to so poor
and so oppressed a people as the Irish — those Irish that are seen daily
in the streets of Glasgow and of London, carrying hods and coal-bags
on their shoulders. It is hard, it must be confessed, for the gold-lace
gentry, that swarm round the Horse Guards, to acknowledge that their
forefathers were educated by the forefathers of these abject serfs, who
now, by the decree of fate, toil as their bond-slaves. Few of their
writers can bring themselves to admit it ; and even Dr. Lingard, the
Catholic historian of England, exhibits his mean unwillingness to do
poor Ireland justice. Speaking of this very circumstance, — St. Aidan's
labors, and those who cooperated with him, — he describes them, with
remarkable brevity, as " Scottish monks," without further comment,
which Moore thus eloquently reproves : " It was hardly worthy of Dr.
Lingard's character to follow so far the example of Dempster, and other
such writers, as to call our eminent Irish missionaries at this period by
the ambiguous name of Scottish monks, without, at the same time, in-
forming his readers that these distinguished men were Scots of Ireland.
The care with which the ecclesiastical historians of France and Italy
have, in general, marked this distinction, is creditable alike to their fair-
ness and their accuracy." Lloyd states that the auxiliaries of Aidan
"came out of Ireland," and Cardinal Fleury calls them " missionaires
Irlandois."

St. Finian, a native of Ireland, and a monk of the abbey of Hy, suc-
ceeded St. Aidan in the episcopal see of Lindisfarn, and in the mission
of the kingdom of Northumberland. He caused to be built in the Isle
of Lindisfarn, says Bede, a church suitable for an episcopal see, not of
stone, but of oak, after the manner of the Scots ; he labored perseveringly

FINIAN. COLMAN. FDRSET. 387

for the conversion of souls ; he baptized Pcncla, "king of the interior
provinces, and Sigebert, Icing of the East Angles, with the lords of
their retinue, and sent priests to instruct and baptize their subjects.

St. Colnian, a native also of Ireland, succeeded St. Finian in the
bishopric of Lindisfarn. Those three prelates were celebrated for the
sanctity and purity of their morals, their zeal for the propagation of the
faith, and the exercise of every virtue ; it can be affirmed that the
Saxons of the northern provinces were indebted to them for the knowl-
edge of the true God.

St. Fursey, having labored in the conversion of souls in Ireland for
the space of twelve years, went, about the year 637, with some disci-
ples, to England, where he was kindly received by Sigebert, king of the
East Saxons : this saint, having rescued some of the Picts and Saxons,
who had escaped the zeal of the preceding missionaries, from the super-
stitions of idolatry, and brought them to the worship of the true God,
founded the abbey of Cnobersburgh, now Burgh Castle, in the county
of Suffolk, on some land which the king had given him ; he afterwards
induced this pious prince to abdicate the throne, and become a monk.

Subsequently, St. Fursey availed himself of the offer of Clovis the
Second of France, and settled at Latiniacum, (Lagny,) on the River
Marne, six leagues from Paris, where he caused three chapels to be built,
the first of which he dedicated to our Savior, the second to St. Peter,
and the third was called, when he died, after his own name, through the
devotion of the faithful. Being afterwards joined by several monks, his
disciples, who had followed him from Ireland, — amongst others, ^milia-
nus, Euloquius, Mombulus, &;c., — and seconded by the liberality of the
king and lords of the country, he founded a monastery which he himself
governed.

So amazingly great were the number of the Irish saints in the Isles of
Arau, for instance, that the writers were obliged to class their names
thus : there were four Colga7is, ten Gobhans, twelve Dichulls, twelve
Maidoes, twelve Adrands, thirteen Camans, thirteen Dimins, fourteen
Brendens, fourteen Finians, fourteen Ronans, fifteen Conalls, fifteen
Dermods, fifteen Lugads, sixteen Lassare, seventeen Serrani, eighteen
Erneni, eighteen Folbei, eighteen Cominei, nineteen Foilani, nineteen
Sulani, twenty Kierani, twenty TJltinai, twenty-two Cilliani, twenty-
three Aidi, twenty-four Columbce, twenty-five Senani, twenty-eight
Aidani, thirty Cronans, thirty-seven Moluani, forty-three Lazreani,
thirty-four Mochunni, fifty-eight Mochuani, fifty-five Fintani, sixty
Cormacs, and two hundred Colemans. Most of the above are Irish
names Latinized.

388 MAILDULPHUS. CUTEBERT. GERTRUDE. KILIAN.

Maildulphus, an Irish monk, and very learned man, went to England
in 676. Of him the English Camden has the following notice : —

" Nor was it known by any other name, for a long time, than Ingcl-
born, till Maildulphus, a certain Hibernian Scot, a man of the soundest
erudition, and a peculiar sanctity of life, being taken by the delicious-
ness of the grove, after his opening a school, and devoting himself, with
his congregation, to a monastic life, built a monastery in it : from hence
it began to be called by Maildulphus, instead of Ingleborne, by Bede,
the ' city of Maildulphus,' and afterwards contracted into Malmsbury.
Among the disciples of Maildulphus, Aldelmus, who had been appointed
his successor, was particularly noted ; for he was the first of the Eng-
lish people who wrote in Latin, and was the first who taught the
English to compose Latin verse.^^ — Camden, p. 176.

St. Cuthbert, son of an Irish prince, was born at Kenanuse, otherwise
Kells, in Meath, and became a monk, and was summoned to Lindisfarn^
by Eata, bishop of that see ; from thence he went to an island called
Fame, some leagues in the sea, where he lived as a hermit, till he was
appointed bishop of Lindisfarn : with reluctance he accepted that dig-
nity, but was constrained to yield to the solicitations of King Eg-
frid, and some bishops whom he had assembled in synod for that
purpose.

St. Gertrude, having become, on the death of her mother Itte, abbess
of ]Nivelle, in Brabant, sent to Rome for relics of the holy martyrs, and
for books of piety ; she also sent to Ireland for learned men, to expound
the Holy Scriptures, and instract the nuns in them, and to preach the
word of God in the country around.

'• Rome, at that time, took care to have the relics of the saints and
holy books brought to her ; she sent to Ireland for learned men to ex-
pound to herself and to her people the canticles of the holy law, which
the Irish had almost by heart. The monastery of Vossuensis was built
on the banks of the Sambre for receiving the saints FuUanus and Ul-
tanus, brothers of St. Furseus." — Breviary of Paris.

St. !^ilian left Ireland, with two companions called Colonat and Tot-
nan, the one a priest and the other a deacon. Being desirous to visit
the church of Rome, he took his route through Flanders and Germany.
On his arrival in Rome, having been presented to Pope Conon, the
holy father found him to be possessed of so much wisdom, and so
perfect in his knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, that he ordained and
appointed him to preach the gospel to the infidels of Franconia, where

SEDULIUS. DONATUS. 389

having converted Duke Gosbert, and a great number of his subjects, he
fixed his see at Wirtzburg, of which he was the first bishop, and was
afterwards honored as a martyr,

" St. Kilianus, an Irish monk, preached in these times the evangelical
doctrine to the eastern Franks, and is called their apostle." — Chronicles
of Cardinal BeUarmini.

" In a district of Austria, where stood a castle of New France, nay, a
city, as, in the Teutonic dialect, Wirtzburg, situate near the River Meuse.
signifies, the martyrdom of St. Kilianus, the first bishop of that city, and
that of his two disciples, Colonatus, a presbyter, and Totnanus, a dea-
con, took place. They came from Ireland, the island of the Scots, and,
after receiving the authority of the apostolical see, they preached
the name of Christ to that city and district." — Martyrology of
NotJcer.

Gosbert, whilst he was a pagan, married Gielana, his brother's wife ;
but, being converted to Christianity, St. Kilian, like another John the
Baptist, reproached him, with truly apostolical freedom, for this incestu-
ous marriage, and advised him to separate from her ; Gielana, exasperated
at the holy prelate's reproof, caused him and his companions to be as-
sassinated on the 8th of July, 689, the day on which they are honored
by the church as martyrs.

Sedulius, surnamed the younger, to distinguish him from the great
Sedulius, of whom we have spoken, in the fifth century, went from
Ireland to Rome, where he assisted at a council held against illicit
marriages, the 5th of April, 721, under the pontificate of Gregory the
Second. He left to posterity compilations on the Gospel of St.
Matthew, which are still to be seen in manuscript in some of the
libraries in Paris. There are other manuscripts in existence at-
tributed to him.

St. Donatus left Ireland with his companion Andrew, and, after trav-
elling through France and Italy, setded in Etruria, now Tuscany, where
he led the life of a hermit for some time, after which he was nominated
bishop of Fiesole. He remained for a considerable time at the head of
that church, and became celebrated for the brilliancy of his virtues. It
is affirmed that the Dominicans at Rome have his life in manuscript ;
he wrote his travels, the office of his church, and commentaries on the
Holy Scriptures ; he gave also a description of Ireland in hexameter and
pentameter verse, some fragments of which are quoted by Colgan. The
following is a translation of his description of Ireland : —

390 VIRGILIUS DISCOVERS THE SPHERICITY OF THE EARTH.

" Far westward lies an isle of ancient fame,
By nature blessed, and Scotia is her name,
Enrolled in books ; exhaustless in her store
Of veiny silver and of golden ore ;
Her fruitful soil forever teems with wealtli,
With gems her waters,* and her air with healdi ;
Her verdant fields with milk and honey flow ;
Her woolly fleeces vie with virgin snow;
Her waving furrows float witli bended corn,
And arms and arts her envied sons adorn ;
No poison there infects, no scaly snake
Creeps through the grass, or settles in the lake —
A nation wortliy of its pious race.
In war triumphant, and unmatched in peace "

In the eighth century, the high scholastic reputation of the Irish,
had become established throughout Europe. That mode of applying
the learning and subtilty of the schools to the illustration of theology,
which assumed, at a later period, a more systematic form, under the name
of the scholastic philosophy, is allowed to have originated among the
eminent divines whom the monasteries of Ireland in this century poured
forth. Amongst the lights, that shed their brilliant rays, at this time, not
only on their own country, but on Europe, was the eminent Virgilius,
whose real name was Feargal. Arriving in France, anno 746, on the
Christian mission, he attracted, by his preaching and writings, the notice
of the monarch Pepin, the father of Charlemagne. He became an inmate
of his princely residence on the Oise ; from thence, after a stay of two
years, he proceeded to Bavaria, bearing letters of introduction from the
monarch to the duke of that province. A theological discussion grew
up between Virgilius and Boniface, the great missionary of Ger-
many, on the mode of administering baptism ; and, though the pope
(^Zachary) decided in his favor, yet, the pride of Boniface having been
wounded, he was not restrained from preferring charges of heresy against
the Irish divine, alleging, among other things, that Virgilius taught there
was another world, and other men, under the earth.

Virgilius had, by the lights of the astronomical and geographical
studies of the Irish colleges, become convinced of the sphericity

* A writer in The Philosophical Transactions, vol. xviii., says, " I myself saw one
pearl, found in the Lake of Killarney, bought for fifty shillings, that was valued
at forty pounds. A miller took out a pearl, which he sold for ten pounds to one
who sold it to the late Lady Glenanly for thirty pounds, with whom I saw it in
a necklace. She refused eighty pounds for it from the late Duchess of Ormond."

CLEiMENT. ALBINUS. 391

OF THE EARTH, AND THE EXISTENCE OF ANTIPODES. The idea thuS

broached by the Irish ecclesiastic, creating a supposition that there was
a world and a race whom Christ did not die to save, brought upon his
head the suspicions of the holy see. An inquiry was ordered, from
which there grew considerable excitement ; but Virgilius found means to
avert the condemnation of the holy fathers, by either qualifying or with-
drawing his theory ; for as yet the most learned of the Latins had not
mastered, to the same degree which the Irish had, the wonderful mech-
anism, of the heavens.

Fools have attempted, on this slight foundation, to raise a charge
against the tyranny of Pope Zachary ; but, as Moore observes, were it
even certain that this pope was slow to believe in the existence of
antipodes, he would at least have erred in good company, as already
the poet Lucretius had pronounced this belief to be inconsistent with
reason ; and St. Augustine had denounced it as contrary to the Scrip-
tures. Let Ireland have the credit of having given birth and educa-
tion to a man who comprehended and disclosed much of the mechanism
of the heavens, and also the sphericity of the earth, eight hundred
years before the sublime truths ivere understood and admitted by the
learned of Europe.

When Virgilius left Ireland, he was accompanied by a Greek bishop,
named Dubda. Usher states that there was established a Greek col-
lege and church in Trim, which was called, in his time, the Greek
school. The fame of her schools and churches had attracted several
Greek ecclesiastics to Ireland, and it is a very remarkable fact that
her own scholars were eminent and fluent masters of the Greek lan-
guage in the fifth and sixth centuries.

The accession of Charlemagne to the throne of France was the com-
mencement of a new era in European civilization. That extraordinary
man not only look the field against the ambitious Mahometans, but
struggled also most successfully against the prevailing ignorance of Eu-
rope. He encouraged, in the most comprehensive sense, the scholars
of every nation, who flocked to his court as to the best market for the
products of their intellect. Amongst the crowd of learned men which
such temptation drew around him, the scholars of Ireland were dis-
tinguished. Conspicuous among the latter were the learned Irishmen
Clement and Alhinus. When the talents of these eminent men be-
came known to the emperor, he assigned them distinguished positions.
Clement was placed chief professor over the university of Paris, which
he had just commenced, and Albinus was sent to found and preside

392 ITALIAN TESTIMONY. THE BIKETRUM AND RING.

over a similar university in Pavia, which was to reenlighten Italy
The Italian historian Denina, remarking on the fallen state of Italy at
this moment, when she was compelled to look to the north and the ex-
treme west for instructors, adds, as a proof of her reduced condition, that
Irish monks were placed by Charlemagne at the head of her schools.
Tiie following passage is comprehensive : " Ma ben maggior maravi-
glia ci dovrd parere, die Vltalia non solamente allora abbia dovuto
riconoscere da barbari boreali il rinnovamento delta milizia, ma abbia
da loro dovuto apprendere in quello stesso tempo le scienze piu necet-
sarie ; e che bisognasse d.agli ultimi confini d'occidente et delnordfar
venire in Italia i maestri ad insegnarci, non che altro, la lingua Latina.
Carlomagno nel 781 avea preposto alle scuole d^Italia e di Francia
DUE MONACHi Irelandesi." — Dtlh Rivoluzioni d^ Italia, lib. viii.
cap. 12.

[" Bat how much more marvellous must it appear that Italy, at that
time, not only owed the reestablishment of the militia to the northern
barbarians, but had to learn of them the most necessary sciences, and
was obliged to cause masters, from the uttermost confines of the west
and north, to come to Italy to teach them even the Latin language.
Charlemagne, in 781, had placed in the schools of Italy and
OF France two Irish monks!"]

The Italian historian, in speaking of the northern barbarians, alluded
to the military skill of the Goths ; his reference to the teachers of the
sciences and the Latin tongue clearly applies to Ireland, for the
northern nations were unacquainted with the Latin language, and
their knowledge of science was trifling.

In Selden's Titles there is preserved a copy of a diploma for a
doctorship, at Rome, in physic and philosophy, in which, amongst other
insignia of this office, a biretrum was placed on the candidate's head,
and a ring on his finger. Now, the word biretrum is not Latin, but
Irish ; and the cardinal's cap is, to this day, known by no other name
than biretrum ; so that the ring and cap, placed on the finger and head
of the higher ecclesiastics in the Catholic ordination, are insignia bor-
rowed from Ireland ; for they are the very insignia worn by our ancient
doctors in different sciences ; and, as the first universities of Europe
were regulated and established by Irishmen, it is most easy to account
for the transfer of the customs, honors, and degrees which existed in the
colleges of their native land.

DUNGAL. 393

" In the latter part of this century," says Moore, " we find another
native of Ireland, named Dungal, honored, in like manner, by the
patronage of the imperial chief of France. This learned Scot addressed
a letter to Charlemagne on the two solar eclipses, which proves that he
was well acquainted with all the ancients had written on the subject,
while, both in his admission that two solar eclipses might take place
within the year, and his doubt that such a rare incident had occurred in
810, he is equally coiTect. While on this topic, I may mention that
the Irish historians have most accurately recorded the solar eclipse
which happened in the month of May, 664 — an evidence at once
of their historical accuracy, and of the authenticity of their writings."

It was at this period that a great plague happened in England, which
Bede alludes to most feelingly, wherein he acknowledges that his cmin-
trymen, both " noble and of lower rank, had retired to Ireland to pursue
a course of studies, and to lead a stricter life;" and the historian adds
the creditable fact, that the Irish most cheerfully received all these stran-
gers, and supplied them gratuitously with food, with books, and
INSTRUCTION ; on which Ledwich remarks, " So zealous and disinterest-
ed a love of learning is unparalleled in the annals of the world."

The very circumstance that Charlemagne, after he retired to a
monastery, consulted Dungal, as one of the few European scholars
worthy of being consulted on profound questions, proves the high
estimation in v/hich he had been held. The authors of the Histoire
Litteraire de la France say, " Ce qui paroit appuye tant sur son
nom, que l'Hibernie fournit alors plusieurs autre grands hommes
a la France,'^ — ["which appears grounded as much upon his name
as upon Hibernia's giving, at that time, many other great
MEN to France."]

We find Dungal, in some time after, placed Over the great university
of Pavia, and invested with the supreme management of the public
schools established through Italy. How high was the position of the
Irish scholar may be estimated from the first sentence of the capitular of
Lothaire the First, in reference to education : " Primum in papia conve-
niant ad Dungallum de mediolano, de laude de Bergamo, de Novaria,^'
&c. No rhention is made of any other professor — Dungal alone is made
special in this law. Dungal bequeathed to the monastery of Bobbio, in
honor of his great countryman, Columbanus, a valuable collection of
books, " the greater part of which," says Moore, " are now at Milan,
having been removed to the Ambrosian library by Cardinal Frederic
Borromeo." Indeed, several of the French writers of the eighth and
dO

394 LABORS OF THE IRISH MISSIONARIES.

ninth centuries bear testimony to the learning of the scholars of Ireland,
as well as to that disinterested zeal which prompted them to travel from
their native land through so many strange countries. " What shall I
say of Ireland," exclaimed Eric of Auxerre, " who, despising the dan-
gers of the deep, is migrating, with almost her whole train of philoso-
phers, to our coasts ? "

The French historian Mezeray mentions with astonishment the num-
ber of Irish who entered Gaul, to instmct the people. He highly extols
their piety and learning, and proclaims the new face the country as-
sumed by the very labor of their hands. Hear his own words : " It
must be acknowledged that these crowds of holy men were highly use-
ful to France, considered merely in a temporal light, — for, the long
incursions of the barbarians having quite desolated the country, it
was still, in many places, covered with woods and thickets, and the low
grounds with marshes. And these pious, religious men, who devoted
themselves to the service of God, not to a life of indolence, labored with
their own hands to grub up, to reclaim, to till, to plant, and to build, —
not so much for themselves, who lived with great frugality, but to feed
and cherish the poor, — insomuch that uncultivated and frightful des-
erts soon became agreeable and fruitful dwellings ; the heavens seemed
to favor the soil, reclaimed and cultivated by hands so pure and disin-
terested." " / shall say nothing,^' he adds, " of their having preserved
almost all that remains of the history of those times."

The frii^htful wastes of Italy and Germany were alike reclaimed by
those missionaries, and instruction spread around, like a rich and plenti-
ful banquet.

During the troubles occasioned by the Danish invasions of Ireland,
about A. D. 800, many pious and learned ecclesiastics fled to France.
Wherever they settled, they established houses of learning and hospitali-
ty, such as they were accustomed to in their own country. In the
council of Meaujc, in France, held in 845, amongst other acts, there
passed, is the following : " That complaint shall be made to the king,
of the ruin of hospitable houses, but particularly of those of the Irish
nation, founded by charitable natives of that country." And the ord-
nance goes on to describe the offensive acts of the intruders, against
whom it was directed. It continues, " Not only have these intruders
refused to receive or entertain such as present themselves for relief, but
they have even ejected these religious persons, whose duty it was to
relieve the sick, the distressed, and the stranger." This is extracted
from Fleury's Ecclesiastical History of France.

TRIBUTE OF BIICHELET. 395

They built their cells in woods and desert places, living on an
antediluvian diet, and making it a part of their vows to reclaim and
cultivate deserts, not for their own, but the emolument of the poor.
From this it is that the old abbeys had around them so much land
called " commons," or land free to all. This ground, originally waste,
was claimed by no one, and was given for the use of the poor after the
necessaries of the abbeys were provided.

Many such facts are scattered through the civil and ecclesiastical
histories of France. A vivid recollection of the services rendered to
French literature by Irishmen, prompted the eminent historian, Mon-
sieur Michelet, the chief of the historical section in the Archives du
Royaume, in his able History of France, published 1840, speaking
of the social condition of the Celtic tribes in ancient France, to exclaim,
" A strange destiny that of the Celtic world 1 Of its two divisions,
one, though the least unfortunate of the two, perishes, wastes away, or
loses its language, its costume, and its distinctive character — I mean
the Highlanders of Scotland, with the populations of Wales, Cornwall,
and Brittany. These, forming the serious and the moral element of the
race, seem to be dying away, and threaten to become extinct. The
other part, full of life, multiplies and increases in spite of every thing —
I speak of Ireland.

" Ireland ! the eldest of the Celtic race, so far away from France, her
sister, who is unable to defend her, except across the waves ! the
Isle of Saints ! the Emerald of the Seas ! all-fertile Ireland, whose men
shoot up like blades of grass, and frighten England with the ominous
sound that daily rings in her ears, ' There is a million more of them ! '
the land of poets, of men of daring thoughts — of John Scotus Erigena,
of Berkeley, of Toland, of Moore, and of O'Connell ! People of the
brilliant word and the swift sword ! people that in this, the decrepitude
of the world, still retain the gift of song! Let England smile, if she
will, \\ hen, in some obscure and wretched corner of her crowded cities,
the Irish widow is heard raising the coronach over her husband's corpse.
Weep on, unhappy Ireland ! France, weep thou too ! weep that thou
seest in thy capital, over the door of the House of Learning, still
open to the children of Ireland, the harp that in vain demands thine
aid ! Let us weep that we cannot give back to her the blood that she
has spilt for us ! But must we not speak our grief? Is it to be in vain
that, within less than two centuries, four hundred thousand Irishmen
have combated in our armies ? And are we to witness the sufferings
of Ireland without uttering a word ? "

396 JOHN SCOTUS.

But the most extraordinary, perhaps, of all the scholars of Ireland,
and the most distinguished certainly of the middle ages, was John Sco-
Tus, who bore the distinctive tide of Erigena. All the historians are
loud in their praises of him. He was a very learned man indeed, —
probably the most profoundly learned that appeared in Europe from the
dawn of Christianity to his own time. Although he belonged to no
ecclesiastical order, he studied much in solitude, and seems to have made
every science and every art, by turns, the object of his investigation.
It would seem, too, from his life, that the object of it was to gather the
flowers of knowledge through the valleys of his native land, only to scat-
ter them on those of other nations. We find him in France, about the
year 845, enjoying not only the patronage, but the friendship of the
monarch of that country, Charles the Bald, and employed by him to
translate from the Greek the mystic treatises on theology ascribed to
Dionysius of Alexandria — a book that effected a wonderful sensation
in the literary world, not only by the original principles of the author,
but from the profound conception and commentaries of the translator,
who was the first lay Christian of Europe that dared to dive into the
ocean of theology, bringing with him, through his course, the principles
of philosophy — illustrating the truths of the one by the demonstrations
of the other.

As this work was filled with metaphysical and obscure questions on
the divine nature and attributes, Pope Nicholas the First wrote a letter
to Charles, in which he observed, that John, one of the nation of
the Scots, had translated into Latin the worlcs of Denis the Areopagite,
concerning the names of God, and the celestial hierarchy, which book
should have been sent to him for his approxal, particularly as John,
though in other respects a man of profound learning, was suspected of
an error of faith ; he consequently begged of him to send the book and
its author to Rome, or to expel him from the Paris university. The
king, being desirous to keep in with the pope, without giving umbrage to
John Erigena, advised him to return to his own country, in order to
avoid the storm. In obedience to the king's desire, John returned to
Ireland. According to Ware, he subsequently came to England
at the solicitation of King Alfred, who employed him some time
afterwards in reestablishing the schools at Oxford. He adds, " Isaac
Wake informs us, that the Statutes of Alfred and Erigena, a Gothic
work, were preserved there in his time, as monuments of antiquity."
Mr. Moore, without producing any authority, says John Erigena died
b France j but when we have, against this assertion, Leland, the Eng-

SAXON GENTRY EDUCATED IN IRELAND. 397

lish antiquarian, Isaac Wake, Ware, and the Abbe M'Geoghegan, I
must respectfully differ from him. Leland, who, during the reign of
Henry the Eighth, spent several years examining the literary contents
of the monasteries, takes care to distinguish the Irish John from a Saxon
scholar of the same name, who distinguished himself, about the same
time, in the court of Alfred. See Leland's Commentaries, cap. 115.

The reader, who has patiently perused the previous part of this book,
who has weighed the unimpeachable authorities arrayed in favor of Ire-
land's claims to be the school of Europe, during the early and middle
ages of Christianity, will not be surprised to read that King Alfred
himself, like the rest of his Saxon countrymen, received his education in
Ireland. There are Englishmen, and Scotchmen too, who will take up
the Gospels and swear upon them that this is false. It is useless to quote
the Venerable Bede, the Saxon writer of the seventh century, and vari-
ous eminent men of that nation, down to Dr. Johnson, Warner, and Sir
James Mackintosh, who honorably acknowledge it. Such sentiments
as the following find little credence with those who contribute to keep
Ireland in slavery. "This country [the Danes] pressed upon Ireland
likewise with the like carnage. There were in it, at that time, many
nobles and gentry from among the English, who, in the time of Bishops
Finanus and Colmanus, having withdrawn themselves thither, for either
the sake of divine study or to lead more chaste lives, — some gave them-
selves up to a monastic life, and others attended in the monasteries to
hear the professors. All of them the Scots most freely admitted, and
sujjylied them gratis xvith daily sustenance, with books, and masters."
— Bede''s Church Hist. b. 3, c. 27. Macpherson says, " To the fifth,
sixth, and seventh centuiies, religion and learning flourished in Ireland
to such a degree, that it was commonly styled the mother country of
saints, and reputed the kingdom of arts and sciences. The Saxons and
Angles sent thither many of their princes and princesses, to have the
benefit of a pious and learned education. It ought likewise to be ac-
knowledged that some of the most eminent teachers of North Britain
received their instruction at the Irish seminaries of literature and religion."
In fact there was a college dedicated, in Mayo, to the exclusive educa-
tion of the Saxons: it was called Maigh-Coan-Sasson, or Mayo of
the English. Bede says that, in the time of Adamnar, there were
one hundred Saxon saints in that college. The Benedictine monks of
St. Gall, in Switzerland, mention, in the ninth century, that they derived
the principal part of their books from Ireland. " Our Anglo-Saxons,"
says Camden, "went, in those times, to Ireland as if to a fair, to

398 ENGLISH DERIVE LETTERS, LAWS, AND EDUCATION, FROM IRELAND

'purchase "knowledge ; and we often find, in our authors, that, if a person
were absent, it was generally said, of him, by way of a proverb, that he
was sent to Ireland to receive his education; it even appears that our
ancestors, the ancient Anglo-Saxons, had learned the use of characters
in Ireland ; and from the Irish, our ancient English ancestors appear
to have received their method of forming letters, and obvious-
ly MADE use of the SAME CHARACTERS WHICH THE IrISH NOW MAKE

USE OF." — Camden, British edition, p. 730. Camden wrote in the
sixteenth century, and meant, of course, the old Irish character of the
Irish language, which, in fact, is, for the most part, substantially the
self-same letter that all, who write the English in the present day, use
in their manuscript characters.

Notwithstanding all that we can prove, when we claim the honor
of originating those jural and political institutions, which Alfred estab-
lished in Britain, our claim is denied. Let those, then, who deny our
claims, show where Alfred obtained his education. Is it likely he would
be sent to the secondaiy or inferior schools of Europe, while those of
L'eland, which stood at the head of all, were open ? M'Geoghegan says,
" Alfred went also to Ireland to perfect himself in the study of philoso-
phy and the sciences — In Hibernia magno otio litteris imbutes omni
philosophia composuerat animumJ' p. 198. Where, if not in Ireland,
did he learn to play on the harp ? Where, if not in Ireland, did he find
the trial of the twelve men 1 Where, at that time, if not in Ireland, did
he find an assembly legislating for the government of the people ?
Where, if not in Ireland, did he observe the use of a national record, of
legal maxims and public events, like the Psalter of Tara, of which the
celebrated English Doomsday Book is evidently an imitation ? When
they show us any other people than the Irish, who can, in those ages,
claim these distinguished attributes of nationality, we may then listen
patiently to their denial of Alfred's Irish education. But when I come
to treat of his exploits against the Danes, I will adduce proof of this
fact which no honest man can doubt.

MUSIC AND POETRY.

399

THOUGH THE LAST GLIMPSE OF ERIN,

BY MOORE.

Fi=e=

-&r

^0^

1»T-

:^=zqzs=^:

i?- - — — "-^

1. The' the last glimpse of E - rin with

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sor - row I see, Yet wher - ev

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er thou art shall seem E - rin to

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ng — ry

"6^^ — ^iT"
In ex - lie thy bo - som shall

7=^

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400

MUSIC AND POETRT

Still be my home, And thine eyes . .

i-HfeE^

1±

at^e

±=i

make my cli - mate wher - ev - er we

roamo

EEEE

«f — 0

~^L

To the gloom of some desert, or cold, rocky shore.
Where the eye of the stranger can haunt us no more,
I will fly with my Coulin, and think the rough wind
Less rude than the foes we leave frowning; behind.

And I'll gaze on thy gold hair, as graceful it wreathes,
And hang o'er thy soft harp, as wildly it breathes ;
Nor dread that the cold-hearted Saxon will tear
One chord from that harp, or one lock from that hair.*

* " In the twenty -eighth year of the reign of Henry the Eighth, an act was made
respecting the habits, and dress in general, of the Irish, whereby all persons were
restrained from being shorn or shaven above the ears ; or from wearing glibbes or
Coulins (long locks) on their heads, or hair on the upper lip, called Crommeal.
On this occasion a song was written by one of our bards, in which an Irish virgin
is made to give the preference to her dear Coulin (or the youth with the flowing
locks) to all strangers, by which the English were meant, or those who wore their
habits. Of this song the air alone has reached us, and is universally admired." —
Walker's Historical Memoirs of Irish Bards. Mr. Walker informs us, also, that
about the same period were some harsh measures taken agaiast the Irish minstrels.

MUSIC AND POETRr.

401

KATHLEEN MAVOURNEEN.

l^z:^

jS?"

r--f-

^ ^ d—^:

JO=^

Kath - leen Ma - vour - neen, the gray dawn is

«±*='

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jj^^-^=ir--<si

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break - ing ; The horn of the hunt - er

'SSi — ''

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iSS?

MEJ-.i=M

151

heard on the hill

The lark from her

fczid— E

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s^ltL^EzzE^:

^— y

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=«=3==

light wing the bright dew is sha

king;

:l±:

_-si

^:^

"S?

402

MUSIC AND POETRY.

'\^.

^-^mm^

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Kath - leen

Mavour - neen ! what, slum - bering

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still ?

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O ! hast thou for - got - ten how

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soon

must sev - er?

has

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got - ten this day we must part ?

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It

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if'-fc

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may

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be for years, and it may be

for

e:^

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MUSIC AND POETRY.

403

ev - er !

&fe

Efc

jPt^^g

ZZ^

■=^=^=fe3E

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why art thou si - lent, thou

i^fc

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voice of my heart? It

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years, and it may be for - ev - er ! Then

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art thou si - lent, Kathleen Ma - vourneen ?

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zt"

.^/j

:^=i:

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Kath - leen Ma - vour - neen, a - wake from thy

-z^±zi^

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404

MUSIC AND POETRY.

5^±^EE^EEiEi

slum - bers ; The blue mountains glow in

the

-<sy

-G>^

-^:

sun's gold - en light ; Ah ! where is the

"ST

tz?t

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1^ T^ri — g ^'^ W

IZ^tl

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spell that once hung on my numbers!

b S?f — ^

I— b-tr-^F

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A -

~tr"~g?

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in thy beau - ty, thou star of

-^tr-^— -T=

MUSIC AND POETRY.

405

'^}

^T-i

^^^^

s?"

:p_:

star

of my night. Ma - vour - neen,

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zz^Jzn?

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.fefeE

vour - neen, my sad tears are fall - ing,

±^

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==S=s:

think that from E - rin and thee I

must

'Gf—

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afe==^=^

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part

:]5ii:

may be for years, and it

:^r

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b=*:

^ r

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^ ,

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may be for - ev - er ! Then why art thou

-S>'-

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406

MUSIC AND POETRY.

'^-

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0 « 9'

si - lent, thou voice of my heart?

©;£

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may

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be for years, and it may be

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ev - er ! Then why

art thou si - lent.

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MUSIC AND POETRY.

407

THE HARP THAT ONCE THRO' TARA'S HALLS,

BY MOORE.

SLOtr.

\^^-i7-e-H^

i»-

L The Harp, that once thro' Ta - ra's halls The

©^t

soul of mu - sic shed, Now hangs as mute on

-»-•-

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? — 'i — - I - f I'*'

fcfezb=

Ta - ra's walls As if that soul were fled. So
# ^ ^ »^0

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sleeps the pride of former days ; So glo-ry's thrill is

e^b

lit

:£

408

MUSIC AND POETRY.

^^^1^^^

o'er ; And hearts, that once beat high for praise, Now

{^=^^

x—-

-m

feel that throb no more.

tfc

S»"

No more, to chiefs and ladies bright.

The Harp of Tara swells ;
The chord, alone, that breaks at night,

Its tale of ruin tells.
Thus Freedom now so seldom wakes,—

The only throb she gives
Is when some heart indignant breaks,

To show that still she lives.

The following admirable soiig, from the Dublin Nation^ may he sung to the same
tune, — which is the very ancient air of "Mollv Asthore."

Look down on Erin's verdant vales, — so rich, so gay, so green, —
And tell me, can a bosom throb, not loving Ocean's queen ?
Look round on Erin's mossy moors, her meads and mountains high,
And tell me, does a dastard live, who'd not for Erin die ?

No, no ; in Erin lives not now a traitor to her cause, —
The thundering voice a Nation speaks, each traitor overawes!
A beaming light is burning bright, on mountain, rock, and sea;
And, by the mighty march of mind, our land will soon be free !

Then strike the Harp, old Erin's Harp, with fearless force and hold;
It breathes not for a timorous hand, nor for a heart that's cold ;
It loves tlie open, generous soul, — tlie bold, tiie brave, tlie free ;
But for tlie craven, crouching slave, it has no melody.

You're men ! — as such should know your rights, and knowing should defend ;
Who would be free, themselves must dare the tyrant's chain to rend;
O, fruitless is tlie grief that springs above a nation's fears ;
One firm resolve of migJity men is worth a tide of tears.

LECTURE XII.

PROM A. D. 800 TO 1016

Close of the eighth Century. — Names of fifty-nine Kings of Ireland. — Inva-
sions. — Glimpse of European Affairs. — The Franks. — The Building of Paris.
— Charlemagne. — His Laws. — Mahomet. — The Venetians. — Trade and Com-
merce. — The Danes. — Their Invasions of France, Germany, England, Hol-
land, and Ireland. — Turgesius, their Chief. — His Devastations. — Death of
Niall. — Accession of Malachy. — His many Battles with the Danes. — Danes
triumph. — Danish and English Oppression alike. — Atrocities of the Danes. —
Designs of the Chief Turgesius. — Frustrated, and the Danes destroyed. — Re-
establishment of the Kingdom. — Death of Malachy. — Accession of Hugh the
Seventh. — Further Attempts of the Danes. — Plots to foment Dissensions. —
Attacks of the Danes. — Renewal of the Wars. — Retreat of the Danes on
Wales. — Effects of Peace in Ireland. — Reign of Niall the Fourth. — Renewed
Dissensions. — Danes renew their Invasions. — Various Battles. — Victories of
Cealachan. — Stratagem to destroy him. — Southern Expedition of Sea and
Land Forces. — Sea Fight of Dundalk. — Glorious Conduct of the Irish. —
Defeat of the Danes. — Reign of Congulash. — New Danish Invasions. — Brien
Boroimhe. — Routs the Danes in various Battles. — Storms Limerick. — Settle-
ment of Munster. — Hospitality and Magnificence of Brien. — A Virgin walks
alone through Munster. — Malachy the Second. — The Collar of Gold. — Lough
Neagh. — War between Malachy and Brien. — Brien comes to the Throne. —
Solemn Coronation. — Assembly of the Estates of Tara. — Law relating to Sur-
names. — O's and Macs. — English Titles. — Revival of Literature. — Irish
Teachers sought after by King Alfred. — Glance at English Affairs. — King
Alfred. — Introduces the Irish Laws. — Calls an Assembly of the Estates like
that of Tara. — Death of King Alfred. — Danes reestablish their Power in
England. — Dissensions in Ireland. — Danes take Advantage. — Again invade
Ireland. — Preparations of Brien. — Clontarf. — Morning of the Battle. — Brian's
Address to his Army. — His Son Murrough takes the Command. — The Battle. —
Murrough waves the "Sunburst," and leads the decisive Charge. — Victory! —
Murrough killed. — Death of Brien. — The Danes completely subdued. — In-
glorious Attacks of the Prince of Ossory on the Munster Troops. — Bravery of
the wounded Men.

A. D. 800. Anxious to follow up the deeply-interesting sketch of
our literary and Christian missionaries, who appeared from the time of
52

410 CLOSE OF THE EIGHTH CENTURY.

St. Patrick to the close of the eighth century, and to fix in the reader's
mind a distinct image of their extraordinary labors, I avoided intruding
upon his attention the civil or kingly affairs of the country during the
three hundred years over which I have ranged from the reign of King
Laogaire, in the middle of the fifth to the close of the eighth century.

The historians of those times have left us little material connected
with kings. The genius of the educated, and the labors of the people,
seem to have been exclusively directed to the spread of religion and
literature over Europe. The kings who reigned, and the battles they
fought, are passed over with unusual brevity. As these battles were
generally fought between Irishmen on their native land, it is a matter
of less consequence that the Christian historians of the middle ages
should have given them so little of their space. I, for one, do not
regret this ; for it is with the utmost reluctance that I record for publi-
cation any of those senseless sanguinary battles fought by Irishmen
against Irishmen on their common birthplace. I am occasionally
compelled to record them, in obedience to the order and demands of
history.

Not all the virtues of the Irish are sufficient to hide the stains which
those wars with each other have left upon their fame, nor all their
bravery sufficient to avert the frequent calamities of invasions and
persecutions which those well-known divisions have for a thousand
years invited. Their proneness to contend with each other is the most
senseless, as well as the most mischievous and fatal, trait in their
national character. They have latterly become somewhat sensible of
this, and it is hoped that, under the wise and enlightened counsels of
their present chief men, it will totally disappear. Let those among
them who are most patriotic, suffer injury from their countrymen with-
out retaliation ; and let those who are most in the right be the most
patient and forbearing, for the sake of union.

From the fifth year of the Christian era to the time of Laogaire,
there reigned twenty-eight kings. From the accession of Laogaire, the
first Christian monarch of Ireland, about 430, to that of Aodh the
Sixth, in the close of the eighth century, there reigned thirty-one
kings ; that is, fifty-nine kings in eight hundred years, which give an
average of thirteen and a half years to each reign. Some of these
monarchs, for the sake of union, reigned two at one time. Some of
them, also, retired to monasteries in the prime of manhood. If, ac-
cording to Newton, an average kingly reign of fifteen years be an
undoubted evidence of a high degree of civilization in a people, then

NAMES OF FIFTY-NINE KINGS. 411

the average offered by two thousand years of the Milesian dynasty
in Ireland, which comes up to thirteen or fourteen years, as the dura-
tion of each king's reign, is an unerring index of national civilization.

The following are the names of the fifty-nine kings : — Conaire,
Lughaidh, Connor and Criompthon, Cairbre, Fiachadhjion, Mini,
Tuathal, Mai, Feidhlim, Cathoir More, Con, Conaire, Art, MCon,
Feargus, Cormac, Carbrie, Feacha and Colla, joint kings, Muiried-
hach, Eochaidth, Criompthon, Niall^ Dathy, Laogaire, Olioll,
Lugha, Murtough, Tuathal, Dermod, Feargus and Daniel, joint
kings. Achy, Carbra Croman, Hugh, Hugh Slaine and Colman,
joint kings, Naradnach, Clearach, Daniel, Claon and Ceallach, joint
kings, Dermod and Bleathmac, joint kings, Fionachte, Loingseach,
Congell, Fearghall, Togartach, Aaodth Ollah, Daniel HI., Niall IL,
Dunchaid, Niall UL, Aodth.

I will not go farther into the civil affairs of the last three centuries
than to glance at one or two invasions, which the Northumbrian king,
and, after him, the Picts, attempted on Ireland.

" In the year of the incarnation of our Lord 684," says Bede,
" Ecgfrid, king of the Northumbrians, having sent General Berte with an
army to Ireland, plundered that unoffending people, (who had been
always friendly and well-disposed towards the English,) without sparing
either churches or monasteries ; however, the Irish used all their efforts,
and repelled force by force. Thus this attack of the Saxons was
attended by no other result than the pillaging of some villages on the
coasts of the island."

M'Geoghegan says, " In the reign of Loingsheach, (anno 700,) the
Britons and Saxons made an attempt upon Ireland ; they laid waste
the plain of Muii'theimne, at present the county of Louth ; but they
were repulsed by Loingsheach, and forced to abandon their enterprise.
They were afterwards totally defeated by the Ulster troops, at Moigh-
Cuillin, or Ire-Connaught, in the county of Galway. They again landed,
for the sake of plunder, arrived during the reign of Feargall, (712,) in
Ulster, where, after a bloody engagement fought at Cloch-Mionuire,
they were entirely routed by the Dalriads and other tribes of Ulster."

In the long and peaceful reign of Daniel, (Domhnall,) A. D. 743,
the Picts made sudden incursions into Leinster. They were, however,
totally defeated by the Leinster troops, in the district of Ossory, where
their king and leader, Cabasach, was slain.

It may be well to turn aside here from our direct study of Irish
history, for the purpose of glancing at the general state of Europe,
at this era.

412 GLIMPSE OF EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. CHARLEMAGNE.

Among the most conspicuous of the European nations about
this time was the empire of the Franks. The Fraiiks were a
German race, that rushed into Gaul on the breaking up of the
Roman empire. They were freemen, attached to the Roman repubhc,
and took the name of Franks, or French, from that term. They
began the city of Paris in the close of the fifth century. Pepin
and his grandson Le Bref were their distinguished rulers. They
were the guardians of the throne, or grand regents, and were called
mayors; but their power in the field becoming considerable, Le
Bref assumed the monarchy, and bequeathed it to his son, the cele-
brated Charlemagne. This great man added considerably to the
dominion of the French ; he attracted around him the ablest officers
and the most learned men in Europe. Many eminent men from
Ireland found, in his court, hearty encouragement, as already shown.
He divided the kingdom into counties and provinces, after the
Irish customs. Indeed, he adopted many of the laws of Ireland ;
amongst the rest, the law of eric, or fine, for crime. Charlemagne
began a Book of Maxims and Laws, after the model of the Psalter
of Tara, which was lost after his death, but found again in the fifteenth
century. He drove the Lombards out of Italy, and gave the
holy see a considerable inheritance ; he met the Saracens in several
battles, and confined their dominion to the east of Europe. His char-
acter was simple, but brilliant ; his reign and government just and
glorious. He died 814. Having divided the empire which he ac-
quired, consisting of France, Germany, Italy, and some lesser terri-
tories, amongst his sons, they quarrelled after his death, and embroiled
France in years of civil war. Germany, which was given entire to
one of his sons, assumed a separate government from the rest of
Europe. The revenues of a great part of Italy were placed by Char-
lemagne at the disposal of the holy see, in which state they have
continued nearly ever since.

A large portion of the east of Europe, and of Asia and Africa, was
subjected to the sway of a new conqueror, who mingled a new religious
system with the prowess of his sword ; this was Mahomet, a native of
Mecca in Arabia, of mean extraction, but of great learning and acquire-
ments. He flourished about the beginning of the seventh century.
He pretended to the gifts of prophecy and revelations from Heaven.
His countrymen, for infinite ages, had worshipped the sun and stars ;
but he taught the existence of a Supreme God, denying that Jesus
Christ was divine, but admitting his doctrine to be good, and his mission,

PROGRESS OF THE SARACENS. MAHOMET. 413

like his own, that of a prophet. Mahomet had studied the Jewish
and Christian Scriptures, and formed on their basis a testament of his own,
which he called the Koran. It was beautifully written, in detached
pieces, and during certain retreats to mountains and woods, to which he
retired at intervals, after the manner of Moses, to commune with God.
When any part of his doctrines was disputed, he generally retired,
under pretence of laying the objections before the Most High, and, after
a due interval of absence and communion, he returned with a further
piece of the Koran, which either silenced or satisfied his adversaries.
He pretended that these detached pieces were brought to him, in his
retreats, by the angel Gabriel. Its florid composition, and its splendid
Arabic language, imposed on the vulgar. The Koran was thus compiled
as a rule of faith and morals, and whenever its inspired character
was questioned, the prophet boldly defied his opponents to write
one chapter like it.

Mahomet, though persecuted for his preaching, gained an extraordi-
nary ascendency over his followers. The persecutions which he and
they encountered prompted them to combine for defence, and ultimately
they became offensive. Mahomet finally assumed the title of king,
with that of prophet, arrayed a numerous army, attacked and robbed all
those who refused to believe his creed. The plunder which followed
his conquests attracted vast armies to his standard. His religious tenets,
embraced in Islamism, admitted the utmost libertinism to his followers;
each man was allowed four wives, besides concubines, but was forbidden
all intoxicating liquors under pain of death. He laid under his dominion
an incalculable extent of territory in the East. He died at the age
of sixty-three ; and then, his armies ranging under his principles, their
command was assumed by his father-in-law, Abu BcJcr. The Christians
opposed these armies in many very great battles, at one of which, Yer-
mouth, in Syria, one hundred and fifty thousand Christian soldiei-s were
slain. The Mahometans then conquered Egypt, Persia, Armenia,
Mesopotamia, and the north of Africa. In the course of seventy years,
this Mahometan, or Saracen, empire was extended from India to
Siberia, and from Samarcand to the Atlantic. Their African soldiers,
called Moors, vanquished the Visigoth kings who reigned in Spain and
Portugal. They invaded Italy, and besieged Rome. Here they were
met by the French forces under Louis It Debonnaire, and driven
back towards their stronghold in Spain. After this they kept at a
distance from the western Christian states. Spain was for a long
period subject to their power, and the Christians of the Holy Land,

414 THE WARS OF THE CRUSADES.

around Jerusalem, seem to have been the peculiar object of their
vengeance. Their cruelties towards the Christians were shocking, and
extended to such a degree, that the Christian kings of Europe, about
the middle of the eleventh century, at the instigation of Peter the Her-
mit, raised a million of soldiers, at the head of whom they marched to
the Holy Land, to avenge on the Saracens the outrages they had
committed on their fellow-believers. These wars were called the
"wars of the crusades," and they engaged, it may be said, the
physical strength of the greater part of the world for more than a
century. Millions of human beings fell victims on both sides; the
flow of blood was at length temporarily stopped by the victorious
Saracen, Saladin, who, after overthrowing an army of three hundred
thousand Christian soldiers at the walls of Jerusalem, in 1187, pro-
claimed liberty of conscience to the Christians.

These wars were, however, again renewed, in the succeeding century,
by several European kings, under pretence of protecting Christianity,
but really to extend dominion. They were the cause of unprece-
dented carnage. The cross was hoisted again on the flag of the Chris-
tian warriors ; the crescent on that of the Saracens. From the
beginning to the close of those wars, upwards of forty millions of
human beings were slain — a dreadful carnage. Yet Christianity might
have had to contend for freedom to this day with the followers of
Mahomet, had not this vigorous resistance been offered to their arms by
the Christians ; though, doubtless, the ambition of the Christian kings
and knights led them to exceed the limits of their first design, which
extended only to the protection of fellow-Christians.

Next in importance was the rise of the republic of Venice. The
great monarchs of Christendom concerned themselves, for many cen-
turies, only in the afl^airs of war. Trade and manufactures were left to
be minded by the petty states and towns of Europe, which were not
of consideration enough to be consulted in the great affairs of the
world. Some of these came to grow rich and powerful, and some of
the others became poor by war and luxury. The first amongst the states
which grew into opulence and power, was the little republic of Venice.
It held the mastery of the commerce of the world for better than a
thousand years. This singular city was begun, in the fifth century, by a
few fugitives from Rome, who settled upon one of the marshy islands
at the head of the Adriatic Sea. Some say they fled from the cruelty
of Attila the Hun ; but I rather think they were persecuted Christians,
for, soon after their settlement, they erected, on the Island of the Rialto,

RISE AND FALL OF THE VENETIAN REPUBLIC. THE DANES. 415

a church to St. James, which was to be seen, in the sixteenth century,
in the midst of the most opulent part of the city.

These refugees increased ; they hved by fishing and hunting
There were seventy-two islands in the Adriatic cluster, which were
ultimately covered with buildings, and connected with each other by four
hundred and thirty bridges. The huts of the first settlers changed, in
the course of time, to large palaces and warehouses ; the fishing-boats,
to ships of commerce ; and the fishermen, into carriers between the east
and the west. As they grew in opulence, they formed themselves into
a republic. They elected, periodically, a chief man and a council for
their government. Their chief was called a doge, and theirs was the
model of modern republics.

The Venetian republic grew to be the greatest commercial power in
the world. For several centuries they sustained that character. The
crusaders employed their ships and merchants in their busy intercourse
with the East, by which Venice acquired unbounded wealth and exten-
sive connections. For better than two centuries, they were the bulwark
of Christendom against the Turks and Tartars. They were the fron-
tier power, and their colonies were the objects of Turkish ambition.
Genuine freedom seemed to have abode with them for several centuries.
They were the centre and distributors of literature, art, and science, in
Europe, from the twelfth to the fifteenth century. Their republican
constitution sustained them independent for better than a thousand
years, and only fell into decay by the vice and luxury of an overgrown
aristocracy. Venice fell, under the repeated assaults of the Turks, in
1669. The war had continued for nearly half a century, during which
forty thousand Christian soldiers, and one hundred and eighteen
thousand Turks, were slain.

The nation next in importance, and more directly so to the Irish'
reader, is that Scandinavian irruption of men generally denominated
" Danes." They issued from the north of Europe in inexhaustible
numbers. Born to a cold and cheerless climate, and a sterile earth, they
were ready to risk life, and incur any degree of hardship, for the
luxuries of a southern soil. Aided by the great quantity of the best
ship timber to be found upon their barren hills, they fitted out fleets,
which were placed under resolute leaders, whom they denominated sea
Icings. The object of their first efforts was simply plunder. They
usually put to sea in the summer, issuing from the basin of the Baltic in
large fleets, plundering the European coasts on the Atlantic, and returning
to their unapproachable fastnesses in the north. Encouraged by successes,

416 ORIGIN OF THE NORMANS.

they proceeded into the very heart of Europe. In the time of Charles
the Bald, (843,) they plundered many parts of France ; even in the reign
of Charlemagne, they attempted the same thing, but were kept in check
by the dread of his arms. But now, they sailed boldly up the Seine,
plundered Rouen, while another fleet entered the Loire, and laid waste
all the rich country washed by that river; carrying away, together
with rich spoils, men, women, and children, whom they sold into
captivity. In 844, they appeared abroad in greater numbers ; attacked
England, Ireland, France, Spain, and Germany ; they astonished and
alarmed all Europe ; they entered the Elbe, plundered Hamburg, and
penetrated far into Germany.

They were called Northmen, or Normans, by the French ; and these
daring adventurers penetrated, at one time, under Eric, their king, as
far as Paris. Its inhabitants fled, and the city was burnt. Their
fleet, with little resistance, burnt Bourdeaux. To avert the destruction,
Charles the Bald compounded with them for a large sum, and Charles
the Gross yielded them a part of his Flemish dominion. This only
tended to increase their confidence. Their leaders continued their attack
until Rollo, one of their chiefs, compelled the king of France (anno
912) to surrender a large portion of the territory of Neustria, and to
give him his daughter in marriage. This territory was formed into
a new kingdom, called Normandy, of which Rouen was the capital.

In England, they were equally successful ; they entered the Thames,
sailed up to London, sacked it, drove the Saxon kings from their stools,
and laid the whole country under tribute. Their ravages in England
were like those in France and Germany. They were of a plunderous
character, observed none of the usual conditions of warfare ; gave no
quarter, respected no age, sex, or condition ; they looked upon literature
and books with the most savage enmity, making it their special duty to
destroy every literary collection which they could seize. They ap-
peared to affrighted Europe as a terrible scourge, which nothing could
avert.

They visited Ireland about the close of the eighth century. They
sailed up through her rivfers, landed suddenly from their small craft, pil-
laged the people, murdered the clergy, destroyed the churches, burned
the libraries, and returned quickly with their spoils to sea. This har-
assing warfare was kept up on the Irish for many years. It was in vain
that the pillagers were met and defeated in pitched battles — in vain that
thousands of their numbers were slain in countless engagements. They
seemed to be nothing the less in numbers or ferocity. After a pillaging

TURGESIUS THE DANISH CHIEF. 417

and wasting war, or series of invasions, of half a century, during
which many of the best commanders of Ireland, and unnumbered
legions of her bravest men, were slain, — under which accumulated mis-
fortunes, Connor, the monarch of Ireland, died of grief, in 821.

The Danish chief, Turgesius, now appeared in the north of Ireland,
with a fleet of three hundred ships, filled with an overwhelming army.
They landed in several harbors, and forced their way through the coun-
try ; during which, they took Armagh, then the chief city of Ireland.
Great was the joy of the Danes at its surrender, whilst the spirits of
the Irish were depressed in an inverse ratio.

Turgesius having obtained the command of all those aliens, wherever
dispersed, who had made a footing in Ireland before his arrival, availed
himself, with great tact, of this additional power ; for he aimed at the
thorough conquest of the kingdom. His different detached parties were
every where in action. Whilst he possessed himself of Drogheda,
another of his party took Dublin. And now was the whole country
one scene of ruin and desolation. Churches and monasteries, religious
and laics, nobles and peasants, without discrimination, suffered the
utmost cruelty of sword and fire. The wealthy cities and smiling
villages, where, before, such scenes of splendor, hospitality, and piety,
were exhibited, became now destitute of inhabitants, and the country,
instead of being covered with flocks and corn, was covered with barba-
^ rians, who were a disgrace to humanity ; and, superadded to all this,
there existed a lamentable dissension between the provincial kings
of Munster and Connaught. The Irish, divided among themselves, re-
fusing to support each other when attacked, gave spirit to the Danes,
who had therefore nothing to fear but from the military and people of
the territory on which they descended.

Turgesius erected forts and warlike stations in all those places which
be seized, and none of the old inhabitants could return to the fond
habitations of their infancy without making a formal submission to him.
He took care to invest the posts on the sea-coasts with armed battalions.
In vain did the Irish oppose them manfully, and cut them off in regi-
ments of eight hundred, and a thousand at a time in the interior; as
the Danes were continually increased by new adventurers on the sea-
coasts, it appeared as if they grew out of the sea, so interminable did
their numbers appear. The interior part of Ireland was yet free from
their absolute power, and poured forth new men to defend those places
nearest to them. Turgesius, in imitation of the Irish, built light barks
to run into the interior of the country. He filled the Shannon, and other
53

418 DEATH OF NIALL. ACCESSION OF MALACHT.

rivers, and lakes, with myriads of armed men. Loch Neagh and
Loch Erne were covered with small craft full of armed pirates, land-
ing on every side, pillaging churches and villages, and putting to the
«word defenceless women and children.

Anno 835. Niall the Third, who succeeded Connor as monarch of
Ireland, was indefatigable, at this period, in reconciling jarring interests,
and animating his brave countrymen to resistance. He was enabled to
collect forces enough to o;ive battle to the Danes in two signal engacre-
ments, in which he cut them to pieces. Encouraged by his successes
in reconciling jarring interests, and uniting forces to resist the invader,
the monarch now made a journey into Leinster, to rally the peoplo
of that province to their duty ; but he lost his life, in crossing a river,
through his own excessive humanity in endeavoring to save the life of
one of his officers.

Anno 848. The Irish throne was now filled by the monarch Mala-
chy. Imitating the policy of Niall, he called a council of the nation at
Armagh, which had been retaken from the Danes. Here the estates
of Connaught, Ulster, and Meath, assembled, with several of the bishops
and clergy. It was then agreed to make a general and simultaneous
attack on the Danes, in every direction. This resolve was carried into
effect with great vigor. The monarch himself, at the head of a brave
body of troops, cut to pieces a large army of Danes, consisting of some
thousands, in Meath. The brave Dalgais cut to pieces several hundred
of them at Ard Bracen ; and the people of Tyr Connell gave a signal
overthrow to a large body of them near Emisrudth. The same success
attended the people of Loch Gobhair. The monarch Malachy, still
following up his successes, gave them battle at Glass Glean, where
seventeen hundred, together with Saxolb, their general, were left dead
on the field.

But these transitory successes seemed not to diminish the number of
the invaders. Having made a footing in England, they found ready
auxiliaries in their countrymen who had settled there, and, without wait-
ing for troops from their native homes around the Baltic, were enabled
to replace the ranks of the dead almost immediately. Their hordes ap-
peared on the Irish coast in still greater numbers, and county after
county, and district after district, fell into their hands, after rivers of the
bravest blood had been shed in their defence. The wills of the conquerors
became law to the vanquished. At length, every district in the land,
in which an Irish chieftain resided, was obliged to entertain a Danish
chief, to whom he was to submit, and from whom he was to receive

LETTERS INTERDICTED. TAXES IMPOSED. 419

orders for the government of his people ; for the Irish would receive
no commands but directly from their own chiefs.

Although this preserved the appearance of freedom amongst the peo-
ple, it at the same time riveted more completely their chains. Every
town, besides its old magistrate, was superintended by a Danish captain,
with his company ; eveiy village had a sergeant, and in every farm-
house was billeted a Danish soldier. Nothing that the citizen or farmer
possessed could he call his own. The cattle, the corn, the provisions,
were at the disposal of the rapacious soldiery. The inhabitants dared
not sit down to their meals until these banditti were first satisfied. Uni-
versities and schools were filled with soldiers ; churches and monasteries
were destroyed, or, where suffered to stand, filled up with pagan priests.'
Some of the clergy and learned men escaped the sword, and quitted the
country for France, or fled to the wildernesses, and there died of starva-
tion and cold. Religion and letters were interdicted ; the nobility and
gentry were forbidden the use of arms, and the ladies were prevented re-
ceiving the education proper for their state. Reading, and every kind
of literary instruction, were forbidden to the common people.

This was not enough; the master of every house in the land was
obliged to pay annually to Tnrgesius's receivers an ounce of gold ; and
this was exacted with such rigor and cruelty, that such as could not
comply were to forfeit the loss of their nose, or become slaves. Hence
this tax was called nose money ; and such were the terms only upon
which these pillagers would cease in their work of extermination. As
the best blood of the country had already saturated the soil in its de-
fence, the exhausted inhabitants submitted for a while to this state of
degradation.

We look back upon those days of Ireland's suffering with natural
emotions of pity. Had we lived then, and escaped from the torture
of the Dane to a free country, how resolutely we would turn round,
and organize some power to free our countrymen from the yoke ! And
yet Ireland is subject to a like tyranny at this moment, with a single
exception — that of religious liberty. There is not a master of a house
in Ireland that has not to pay more than an ounce of gold to the Eng-
lish task-master : whether in the shape of labor, or pork, or money, or
meal, the humblest cotter in the land pays his ounce of gold to the Saxon.

In addition to this, there is not a village of Ireland that has not
its sergeant of police, and its dozen or half-dozen policemen, with
loaded rifles, ready, upon the slightest pretence, to shoot down the
people. There is hardly a mail that comes from Ireland which does not

420 ENGLAND AS BARBAROUS AS THE PIRATE DANES.

inform us of some murders committed by those policemen, or some
detestable act of espionage. We know that all that the Irish farmer
can raise is little enough to satisfy the landlord, the agent, middle
man, tax man, and parson — all these being the machinery by which
the Saxons pillage the Irish people. We also know that if the Irish
farmer is seen to wear a good coat, or a good hat, on a Sunday, or his
wife a new gown, a report is made to their task-masters by the police
sergeant, and strait the rent is raised five or ten shillings an acre. The
people of Ireland are forbidden to keep arms in their houses, unless each
sword and gun shall be registered and branded, and a tax of forty
shillings a year paid to the British. This tax, in fact, amounts to a total
prohibition of the use of arms to the bulk of the people. They are
forbidden to fish in their own waters ; for the British, after having taken
possession of all the lands, have, by the river laws, taken possession
of all the fish in the waters also, and a poor Irish farmer that dares fish
up a salmon or trout out of those appropriated waters becomes liable to
a long imprisonment and a fine, which must be paid ere he can get free.
Then there are the game laws, which have transferred the winged
creation to the English as their exclusive property. The Irish farmers^
who hold as tenants under lease, or at will, are not permitted to cut
down a tree or a sapling, vv'hich may be growing on their lands^ without
the special permission of their task-masters.

In very few features of Danish tyranny does the tyranny of England
differ, save in religious liberty ; and even in that she exceeded the Danes
in cruelty and in persecution, until compelled to relent by Tone, Keogh,
Grattan, Macneven, O'Connell, and the united resolves of the Irish people.
England, in the midst of the nineteenth century, is a more barbarous
persecutor of the Irish nation, and of mankind in general, wherever she
can send her pirate navies with a chance of impunity, than ever were
the barbarians that issued fiom the north of Europe in the dark ages we
are now considering ; and the public opinion of civilized man must be
brought to bear against this barbarian power, as it was brought against
the Danish power, in the ninth and tenth centuries, when they were
driven out of Ireland and England, and other parts of Europe, by one
simultaneous effort of indignant man. The storm is gathering around
England ; and, no matter what appearances she may exhibit, we know
she is rotten within, rotten throughout, and can be shaken to atoms by
the thunder-voice of united millions.

The brutal invasions on female liberty and virtue which these barba-
rians (the Danes) at length began to practise, drove the' people to madness.

DESIGNS OF TURGESIUS ON THE KINo's DAUGHTER. 421

All decency was sunk, and the virtuous daughters of Ireland were
forcibly torn, by those monsters, from the parental shrine, or the nuptial
sanctuary.

The chief Dane, Turgesius, had a palace built for himself in the
same fort where Malachy, the Irish king, was permitted, as a sort of
prisoner, to reside. Though the Dane arrogated supreme sway, yet
he frequently condescended to visit Malachy, his brother king, who,
through a constrained policy, was obliged to entertain the usurper.
During these repeated visits, the unwelcome guest became aware of the
beauty of one of King Malachy's daughters, and, in a compulsory way,
demanded the lady for his dishonorable association. This was the
deepest wound that was yet struck into the afflicted heart of the Irish
monarch. It was not enough that his dominions were overrun by an
unearthly swarm of monsters ; it was not enough that his dignity was
eclipsed and his crown removed from his venerable brow ; it was not
enough that he was held a vassal prisoner in his own palace, in the
presence of his family and followers ; but, to complete his humiliation,
there comes this superadded misfortune, — he must resign his virtuous
daughter to the unlawful power of the usurper.

The king endeavored to amuse the Danish chief by assuring him
that there were several young ladies in his family or neighborhood who
far surpassed his daughter in beauty ; but the arrogant Dane, whose
passions had hitherto been strangers to any refusal, declared his inflexible
determination, in case the king refused, to take away the young princess
by force. Though stung to the heart by the infamous resolution of the
tyrant, Malachy, with consummate policy, disguised his indignation
and resentment ; and, instead of an affront, he affected to take it as an
honor, and assured the Dane that he would positively send his daughter
on the next evening, accompanied with fifteen of the most beautiful
virgins that he could find amongst all his people, and if the princess
still appeared to his eye the most attractive, then he consented that tlie
Dane should possess her ; but if fascinated by any of the other ladies,
he then trusted to his honor to restore his daughter.

The lascivious Dane was not only satisfied, but extremely delighted
with the proposal ; he called together fifteen of the most daring and
influential chiefs of his .party, and communicated to them the intrigue,
to each of whom he promised to sacrifice a beautiful virgin in his palace
— an intimation received with uproarious delight.

Malachy planned an escape from this degradation, which, if unsuc-
cessful, must have caused his death, and the complete destruction of

422 malachy's expedient to defeat tukgesius.

his family. His plan was this : He got together fifteen of the hand-
somest young men he could find in the neighborhood, amongst his friends
and followers, on whose spirit and resolution he could depend, and, after
communicating to them the secret of his purpose, and pledging them to
execute it to his wish, he had them all attired in the most costly habili-
ments of a lady's wardrobe. Every one of them was, however, armed
with a dagger, beneath his robe. The king then instructed them
in the part they were to act, and promised that he and a good
body-guard would be within call at the Dane's fort. Thus ac-
coutred and disciplined, the princess and her companions went to the
Dane's castle, where they no sooner arrived than they were con-
ducted to an apartment, where the chief and his associates were pre-
paring to receive them. The princess and her companions were in-
spired with very different feelings from those entertained by the Danish
heroes. Amongst the trembling sensations of the moment, which must
have pervaded their hearts, the love of country was predominant. They
knew, if they missed the blow which they now meditated, that they and
their country were sacrificed.

The moment arrived ! Turgesius had looked over the faces and
figures of all the visitors, and, having selected the princess from amongst
all, proceeded to embrace her, when, she giving the signal, her
companions plunged their daggers into the hearts of their respective
partners ; every one of the Danes, except the chief, was put to
death: him they boiind ; and instantly, at a signal given, King Mala-
chy, with his guards, broke into the fort, sword in hand, giving no
quarter. The Danish ofiicers and soldiers fell promiscuously in the
carnage, and not one remained alive, or was suffered to escape with the
tale. The revenge of the Irish being thus satisfied, Malachy had the
tyrant bound in irons, and brought before himself and courtiers, upbraid-
ing him with all the horrid crimes he had committed ; he had him
dragged along in his procession to grace the victory, and finally flung
him, covered with irons, into Lough Neagh.

No sooner was this success over the Danish chiefs made known out-
side, but it spread quick as light over the island ; and the news could
not travel quicker than did the resolution of the Irish people to throw
off the yoke which had so long enslaved them. As soon as the Danes
found their chief taken prisoner, and many of their commanders killed,
they in turn became panic-stricken and dispirited ; and, as if the charm
of their power lay in their leader, no sooner was he taken than their
courage forsook them : so the same cause produced in the hearts of the

DESTRUCTION OF THE DANES. HUGH THE SEVENTH. 423

Irish such new courage and animation, like men awakened from a
trance or a dream, they were amazed to find themselves the conquer-
ors. Such of the Danish invaders as lived near the coast betook
themselves to their ships, and quitted the island ; others fled to the
forts and fortified places ; but every where they were pursued by their
infuriate foes, whom revenge and freedom excited to extraordinary
deeds of war.

Malachy now took the reins of government into his hands, and called
the estates together. Had it not, perhaps, been for the affront offered
to the honor of his daughter, he had longer acquiesced in the bondage
of the Dane. He assembled the estates near the ancient seat of legisla-
tion, in Tara, and there submitted various measures for the future
defence of the country and its prosperity.

In a short time, the country became cleared of hostile ships, and an
armed Dane was not to be seen in the land. Liberty was proclaimed,
the remnant of the clergy and literati came forth from the wildernesses,
and many of those who fled to France returned ; universities and
colleges were again opened, and such works, books, and writings, as
could be found, after the battles, or had escaped the Danish con-
flagrations, were carefully collected. The glory of Malachy, and the
greatness of his exploits, were the themes of the senachies and bards,
and the kingdom reechoed the sounds of joy.

Many of the Danes had settled in the maritime towns and cities, who
sued the Irish monarch for pardon, proposing to swear fidelity to his
crown. Their petitions were taken into consideration by the estates,
and a favorable construction placed upon their intentions. They were
suffered to remain in those maritime towns, where they carried on traf-
fic. A general amnesty passed, and the few Danes that remained
became incorporated, apparently, in interest and sentiment, with the
nation. The next care of Malachy was to send ambassadors to foreign
princes, announcing the happy change. To Charles the Bald, of
France, he sent rich presents, of gold ornaments, Irish horses, and
wolf dogs, and was about to visit that prince in person, but was cut off
by death.

Anno 864. Malachy was succeeded by Hugh the Seventh.
Though the Danes, as a military people, were expelled the kingdom,
yet the fertility of the soil, and beauty of the country, but more espe-
cially its immense wealth, stimulated them to pant for its repossession.
To effect this by force they saw was impracticable. The following
project was resorted to: Three brothers, Amelanus, Sitaracus, and

424 NEW ATTACKS OF THE DANES.

Ivorus, Danish commanders of ability, fitted out a considerable fleet,
apparently freighted with merchandise, but in which large quantities
of arms were concealed ; and the better to deceive the vigilance of the
Irish, they were divided into three squadrons. One squadron, com-
manded by Ivorus, sailed up the Shannon, to dispose of their goods at
Limerick. He waited on Lachtna, king of North Munster, presented him
with some curiosities, requested his permission to settle in his city, with
his people, in the way of traffic, promising extraordinary taxes and
duties to his government for this liberty. The Danish chiefs now laid
themselves out to pay their court to the different princes, in whose terri-
tories they had got footing. They entered into their Interests, soothed
their passions, and spirited up chief against chief; and as we know
how prone our countrymen are to be deceived, and" cajoled by sweet
language, we are not now surprised at the success of the wily Dane.
They obtained, permission, for the defence of their merchandise, to build
castles, which they erected of extraordinary strength. By these means,
and the accession of fresh forces, under the disguise of dealers and
travellers, they became, in a short time, formidable again.

Such was the preparation made by the Danes for a reconquest of
the country. At this time, their successes in England and Wales were
considerable. It was their policy, when they lost one station, to aban-
don it with perfect composure, and retreat to such places as they still
held, to collect their forces for a fresh onslaught. \n opportunity soon
offering to put their plans into operation, the Danish chief Ame'
lanus attacked, with a considerable force, the governor of Meath.
The war between the Danes and the natives was thus again renewed,
with various successes on either side : it was carried into Ulster, where,
again, the clergy, defenceless women, and children, were butchered ;
but the northern king gathered his forces, and met the Danes at Lough
Foil, in the county Donegal, and routed then) with great slaughter.
The Ulster monarch followed up his conquests, and appeared before the
gates of Dublin, which he surrounded, and then put the Danish garrison
to the sword. The Danish chiefs and soldiers, from other quarters of
Ireland, came to the aid of their countrymen ; but in one decisive en-
gagement, upwards of five thousand of them were slain. Soon after
this, the remaining Danes collected their scattered forces, and got them
over to Wales, to the assistance of their countrymen, Hinquar and
Hubba, who were then hard pressed by the Welsh.

The histories of France and England sufficiently attest the fidelity
with which the Danes, in their enterprising attempts on dlfierent nations.

RETREAT OF THE DANES ON WALES. NIALL THE FOURTH. 425

supported each other: the scattered forces, driven from Ireland,
enabled the invaders of Wales to effect its conquest ; and then it was
that Roger, the king of the Britons, fled to Ireland for refuge, and was
there most honorably entertained by the Irish monarch.

During the remainder of this king's reign, there were no more attempts
made by the Danes to disturb the tranquillity of the Irish nation. Again
arts, sciences, and literature, began to bud forth, with the sudden fresh-
ness of a warm summer, after a long, ungenial winter.

But, in 888, the Danes again invaded Leinster, plundering the
churches and monasteries, and retiring to their ships with great expe-
dition. In five years farther on, we find them plundering the churches
of Armagh. The historians of those times fill their pages with recitals
of the occasional depredations, committed at various parts of the sea-
coasts, by these pillagers.

Anno 916, Niall the Fourth came to the throne. The Danes, who
by this time had become informed of the various dispositions of the
chiefs towards each other, — their private causes of quarrel, he, —
joined one party or the other in these deadly animosities, and kindled
up the passions of the people and chiefs to civil wars. And when their
dissensions had been increased to a fearful pitch, the Danes intimated
to their countrymen, at home, the favorable opportunity for the recon-
quest of the country. Accordingly, Ulster was, in 917, invaded by a
large Danish force ; but they were bravely met by the Ulster prince, and
defeated, with great slaughter. In the ensuing year, a tremendous force
appeared, in the harbor of Dublin, commanded by the Danish chief Goc?-
frey ; and this fresh force, uniting with the one previously in the coun-
try, attacked Dublin, carried it by storm, and put thousands to the sword.

A great annual fair was usually held in Roscrea, v/hich is nearly the
centre of Ireland : merchants resorted to it not only from all parts of
Ireland, but from foreign countries, to purchase cloth, serges, and flan-
nels, which were then manufactured largely in the south and west of
Ireland. The traffic of Ireland was, at this time, considerable. The
Danes of Limerick and Galway had formed a plan to surprise the mer-
chants and traders who attended this fair ; and they arrived, in several
small detachments, on the borders of the Shannon, to a point within a
few hours' march of the meeting. By the watchtower fires, the forces
of Roscrea were alarmed, and the Irish troops, merchants, assistants,
and all, turned out and killed four thousand of the Danes.

The Irish chieftains of the south placed themselves under the leader-
ship of Cealachan, and attacked the Danish forts wherever they
54

426 STRATAGEM TO DESTROY CEALACHAN.

existed in that quarter, and routed the Danes totally out of the south
of Ireland. Cealachan then prepared a great sea fleet, to sail round
to Waterford, Dublin, and the northern ports, where the Danes still
retained power. In this expedition they were eminently successful,
especially in Armagh and the north of Ireland generally. Sitric, the
Danish chief, who governed Dublin, seeing his power about to be anni-
hilated, sent ambassadors to the young heroic Cealachan, proposing a
peace, and offering his sister, with an immense marriage portion, to the
young commander. In addition, he offered him ships, and a guaranty
against the further incursions of his countrymen. These proposals had
the effect of inducing young Cealachan to listen to the wily Dane,
and, as the young lady was beautiful, it was thought the prince, on see-
ing her, would be so enamored as to consent to the terms required by
the Dane ; but more than this, the treacherous Dane was determined,
the moment he got Cealachan in his power, to destroy him.

The wife of Sitric was an Irish princess, and felt a natural horror
at the contemplated butchery : she therefore intimated to the young
hero the trap that was laid for him ; but he having arrived as far as Kil-
mainham, ere he was aware of the plot, he and his followers were
surrounded, and all the young knights in his train butchered.

This act of baseness roused the men of the south, and tremendous
retahation ensued. Cealachan was sent prisoner to the north of Ire-
land, from whence he found means to communicate with his country-
men in Munster, and urged them to send an expedition by sea, which
was considered in a parliament of Munster; and, in consequence, one
hundred and twenty ships of war were fitted out, having on board slings,
bows and arrows, spears, swords, &:c., all well manned. These were
furnished by the following chiefs : O^Driscol, O' Cobhtach, and O^Flan,
armed and manned ten ships each. Corchna Dubhnee, of Kerry, the
hereditary admiral of Munster, fitted out thirty vessels: O' Connor Ker-
ry twenty ships : from Corcomrudth and Burren, in the county Clare,
twenty ships, and from Corcha Bhaison twenty ships ; in all, one hun-
dred and twenty ships. There was sent by land an expedition of twelve
thousand men, in complete armor, well appointed, the choice and flower
of the Munster militia. The whole of this brave army was placed
under O^Kccffe; and his commanders of battalions were O Hara,
O'Connor, O^Gara, O^ Coghlin, O' Fermellon. He arrived before Ar-
magh, then in the possession of the Danes, which he attacked, with
great bravery, sword in hand, and captured.

Sitric, the chief Dane, and his principal followers, withdrew to Dundalk,

GRKAT SEA-FIGHT. 427

where his ships lay. Thither O'KeefFe and his vaHant army pursued
him ; and, on their arrival, he was found embarked in his ships out in the
bay. O'KeefFe sent a flag of truce to demand the prisoners, particularly
Cealachan and Dunchiun ; but Sitric sent, for answer, that the prisoners
should not be restored till a fine was paid for every Dane that was killed
in fifteen battles, in which the prince Cealachan commanded. At the
same time, Sitric ordered the captive prince to be bound to his main-
mast, in view of the Munster army on the shore. This insult was the
more galling, as the Danish ships were out of their reach. What must
their delight have been then, on beholding the Munster fleet in sight,
and with their oars and sails filling up the bay !

When the Irish army beheld distinctly their own admiral's flag, they
sent up a shout that rent the very skies. O^Failbhe drew up his ships
in an extended line, so as to leave room enough to work and fight.
The battle begins ; the Danes fight for existence. O^Driscol, O' Cobh-
tach, and O'Flan, lead the attack by showers of spears and arrows,
large stones hurled from machines, he. They approach nearer, grap-
ple, and board the Danes. O^Failbhe grappled the Danish admiral,
the rest of his squadron did the like to others, and all leaped into the
enemy's ships.

Never was greater valor displayed than by both parties on this occa-
sion. The Danish fleet was much better manned than the Irish, and
this made the conflict long and dubious. O^Failbhe, at the head of a
hardy band, rushes to the mast, cuts down the prince Cealachan ; they are
successful, and the liberated prince performs prodigies. His liberation
is shouted along the ships, and reechoed from the anxious army on the
shore. O^Failbhe was rushed on by Sitric, the Dane, and a band
of desperate followers ; he fell pierced by twenty spears.

His death, for a moment, intimidated his crew ; for his head was imme-
diately severed from his body by the Dane, and exhibited, in order to
strike terror into the Irish sailors and warriors ; but Fingal, second in
command, vowed revenge on Sitric. He animates his brave compan-
ions ; they catch the sapred flame, and bravely second their gallant
commander. Fingal and Sitric at length closed on the deck, sur-
rounded by Danes. Fingal, seeing his end certain, resolved to die
gloriously. By a sudden effort, he grasped Sitric in his arms, and
plunged with him into the fathomless deep. The like did Connal and
Leagha, (ancestors ol O'ConnellandO'Loughlin,) who engaged with the
ships commanded by Tor and Magnus, brothers to Sitric ; and, reduced
to 'the same extremity with Fingal, like him they grasped those chiefs

428 REIGN OF CONGALACH. BRIEN BOROIMHE.

In their arms, and, like him, plunged with them into eternity. O'Con-
nor Kerry and his division met the same opposition. He attacked,
hand to hand, the Danish commander, whose head he cut off; and,
whilst he was exposing it to his men, he met the same fate from another
Dane.

In short, such bravery and determination must conquer ; and conquer
jt did, but not till nearly every Irish chief was killed, and every Dane
also; and, of that numerous host of insolent invaders, who, in the morn-
ing, manifested such insulting airs, not a single Dane remained alive at
night. The page of history does not furnish a braver action than this.
The enemy's ships being taken or destroyed, Cealachan and Dimchiun,
the long-imprisoned princes, landed, and the sight of them on shore, after
the glories of the day, may be more easily imagined than described.

The spirit of Cealachan and his glorious companions from the south
seemed to be caught by the northern men. O'Neill fitted out a fleet
on Lough Neagh, with which he attacked the Danes, and killed twelve
hundred men. In like manner, the Conaccians attacked them on Lough
Orb, destroying vast numbers.

Anno 946. Congalach, of the Heremonian line, became monarch
of Ireland. He also had to contend with the Danes for his monarchy,
which he did with great bravery, killing four thousand near Dublin.
Several more Danish legions appear at Dublin, land, and proceed to the
interior of the country, where they are met, and are generally cut to
pieces. Godfrey, the next Danish chief that made his appearance on
the Irish soil, brought with him a larger alien force than ever before
appeared in Ireland ; but the Irish army met and attacked them at Mun
Brocan, in Meath, where seven thousand of them were killed on the
field of battle. This victory was dearly purchased, for the Irish lost
the flower of their army that day, amongst whom were Roderic
O^ Cannanan, prince of Tyr Connell, and others of high name.

In the mean time, the Danes came over in their ships, in various
fleets, and secretly landed, in small detachments, all round the island.
In this extremity, the Munster hero, Cealachan, died, which caused
much grief to the Irish. His posterity assumed the name of O' Ceala-
chan, and preserved a considerable part of their hereditary property to
the days of Cromwell. Without dwelling too minutely on the various
battles which took place between the Danes and the Irish, we will come
at once to the brilliant life and exploits of Brien, surnamed Boroimhe.
Brien was a Munster prince, the son of Vincidi, the king of North
Munster. He was born in the year 926, and commenced his reign in

ROUTS THE DANES IN VARIOUS BATTLES. 429

Munster, in the thirty-ninth year of his age. The length of his reign
was forty-nine years ; the first thirty-seven he was king of Munster, and
the last twelve he was monarch of Ireland.

The Danes, who occupied the south, still held nearly all the islands
in the Shannon, from Limerick to the sea. Brien prepared a fleet of
ships and flat-bottomed boats, and, at the head of twelve hundred brave
Dalgais, he landed at Innis Catha, or Scattery Island, near the little sea-
port of Kilrush.

This is the celebrated island to which St. Senanus retired in the fifth
century , where he founded no less than eleven churches for the use of his
monks, the ruins of some of which are yet standing. This holy retreat
was celebrated for five hundred years ; and amongst its rigid rules was
one which prohibited any female landing on the island — a law which
was strictly enforced from its foundation in the fifth century to the coming
of the Danes, when they took possession of the churches and grounds,
butchering the holy inhabitants. Brien's first attack was on the bar-
barians who had thus possessed themselves of a spot so sacred.

He killed eight hundred of their best men, took possession of the
island, and repaired the churches. After their reconsecration, he offered
a solemn thanksgiving to God for thus enabling him to overcome his
enemies. From this spot he embarked forces which sailed up the
Shannon, and were every where successful in driving out the Danes
from the islands and forts they occupied along that river. In every
place which he retook, he repaired the churches and colleges they had
destroyed, restoring the clergy to their rank and possessions. These acts
of -bravery and respect offered to religion and letters won for Brien
the greatest popularity.

Thousands flocked to his standard, and he was thus enabled to fit out
a grand expedition against Limerick, which, by the wonderful increase
of the Danes there, had neariy become a Danish city. On his ap-
proach, the Danes shut the gates, and offered battle ; but Brien's invin-
cible army carried the city by storm, scaling the walls, and meeting the
foe with spear and sw^ord. The Danish magistrates he deposed, and
set up the old magistrates of the people.

Having now thoroughly subdued the Danish power throughout Mun-
ster, his next care was to give vigor to the laws. The ruined schools
and monasteries he rebuilt and repaired ; he also rebuilt all the royal
houses and colleges through Munster, at his own expense. It was the
custom then for every prince of the royal blood to support three royal
houses in his dominion. Here hospitality was done in a truly princely

430 MALACHT.

Style. There were thirteen of those royal houses in Munster. The
public roads were, during the last hundred and fifty years of strife, torn
up or neglected. These Brien repaired. He summoned a feis, or par-
liament, in Cashell, where many excellent public acts were passed. The
lands which had been unlawfully usurped by the Danes were restored
to the proper owners, and such lands as could not be clearly claimed
were given over to the state. The records of the kingdom were all here
carefully examined, and new copies ordered to be multiplied by the
seneachies. New houses of public hospitality were erected upon the
lands forfeited to the king ; and the Psalter of Cashell informs us that
no less a number than eighteen hundred of such houses was established
in Munster. The annual revenue of Brien was very considerable. It
was agreed, in the presence of St. Patrick, five hundred years previous-
ly, in Tara, that the revenue of the king of Munster should consist of
six thousand two hundred and forty oxen, six thousand cows, four thou-
sand sheep, five thousand hogs, five thousand common cloaks, one
hundred green cloaks, forty scarlet cloaks, four hundred and twenty tons
of iron ; and the annual revenue of the city of Limerick was three hun-
dred and sixty-five tuns of claret, besides spices, cloths and silks.
" This work now before me," says O'Halloran, " mentions the proportion
which the different territories of Munster paid of this revenue." The
maritime force of Munster consisted, at this time, of three hundred vessels
of war; they were generally of forty to sixty tons each. The land
force amounted to twenty-five thousand foot and five thousand horse.

Brien restored the country, particularly his own province of Munster, to
such content, and so well oidered the local government, that not a single
outrage was heard of. Brien got the surname of Boroimhe from the
vast number of cows paid to him in tribute, bo being the Irish of cow,
and roimhe, tax. It was at this period of his reign that a young and
beautiful virgin undertook a journey alone from one side of the province
of Munster to the other, carrying in her hand a wand, at the top of
which was affixed a valuable diamond ring ; and this singular feat she
performed without receiving the least injury or molestation. On this
incident has our countryman Moore written the beautiful song, " Rich
and rare were the gems she wore," which will be found in the musical
pages.

Anno 980. We find the celebrated Malachy the Second installed
monarch of Ireland. The Danes had, shortly after his accession, ap-
peared with a considerable force on the plains of-Meath, to give him
battle ; but here Malachy met them at the head of his brave troops,

BRIEN COMES TO THE THRONE. 431

and killed five thousand of them on the field. It was at this battle that
Malachy encountered two celebrated Danish chieftains, Tomar and
Carlus, one after the other, whom he killed on the spot, taking a collar
of gold from the neck of one, and carrying off the sword of the other, as
trophies of his victory.

Partly on this incident Moore has written one of his beautiful melo-
dies, and partly on the fact related by Cambrensis in relation to Lough
Neagh ; namely, " It was an old tradition," said Cambrensis, " that
Lough Neagh had been originally a fountain in a valley, by whose sud-
den overflowing the country and whole region became submerged, and
the fishermen, in clear weather, used to point out to strangers the tali
ecclesiastical towers under the water." On these interesting reminis-
cences the expressive stanzas,

" Let Erin remember the days of old,"

have been founded. They will be found in the music pages.

Malachy pursued the Danes to the gates of Dublin, where they shut
themselves up ; but he scaled the walls, carried the city by storm, and
planted on its walls the green standard of his country, instead of that of
the invader. Here he found several noble prisoners, whom he liberated.

Ireland was now pretty well freed from the Danish power ; but, un-
fortunately, the jealousies which grew up in the breast of Malachy
towards the hero Brien were near subjecting the nation to the power of
the Danes again. These jealousies ended in a bloody conflict between
the armies of both, in which the Munster hero was victorious.

Brien was then, 1001, saluted and proclaimed monarch of all Ireland,
Malachy offering him the crown and sword in submission. Brieii now
received hostages from Malachy as sureties for his peaceable behavior.
He also demanded hostages from all the surrounding princes. He
marched his army to Athlone, and there solemnly received the fealty of
all Connaught. From thence he proceeded to Armagh, where he
received the fealty of the northern princes, and in the cathedral of
Armagh, received the holy communion from the hands ol the bishop,
Marianus, after which Brien made an offering of rich presents to the
dignitaries of the church, and the support of the cathedral of St. Patrick,
and declared his intention of being there interred at his death. He
then returned to T^ara, where, in the presence of the princes and chief
nobility of the land, he was solemnly anointed and crowned by the
archbishop of Cashell, and it was then announced to the people, that
'•' Brien, the son of Cincidi, the son of Lorcan, and so on to Milesius,

432 LAW RELATING TO SURNAMES. THE o's AND MAc's.

was monarch of Ireland," which was confirmed by giving the royal shout
— a practice still followed at the coronation of the kings of England,
France, and other European countries.

After Brien's coronation, a national assembly was called in Tara, where
many good and useful- laws were enacted, which remained in force in
the southern and western provinces of Ireland for many succeeding
centuries, even after the English invasion. The national history, which,
during the sway of Danish power, was suffered to drop, was again taken
up and continued. A law was passed, by which, to avoid confusion,
certain families were for the future to be distinguished by surnames ;
but these were not to be arbitrarily imposed. Each chief was to be
called after some certain ancestor, whose particular virtues would always
remind him of his origin. Accordingly, the successors of the great
Brien assumed the prefix, or surname, of O^Brien, or the descendants of
Brien. The issue of his brother Mahon were called Mac Mahon. The
issue of Niall the Grand were called O^NeiU. The adjuncts of Mac
or O, importing the son, or descendant, were prefixed only to the issue
of the chiefs of that name or clan. Thus plain Brien, though belong-
ing to the clan, or name, yet did not belong to the family of the chief;
plain Carthy, for instance, though indicating the Carthy clan, attached
not the chieftain's distinction to the wearer which the prefix Mac
conferred.

"Per Mac atque O tu veros cognoscis Hibernos,
His duobus demptis, nullus Hibernus adest."

By Mac and O,

You'll always know
True Irishmen, they say ;

For if they lack

Both O and Mac,
No Irishmen are they.

Some of the descendants of the Irish chieftains yet retain their estates
and original titles in Ireland ; for instance, O'Donoghou of the Glens, in
Killarney ; O'Connor Don, of Roscommon ; O'Gorman Mahon, of
Clare.

These titles were always so much prized in Ireland, and held in such
reverence by the people, that when, in the reign of Henry the Eighth,
the O'Brien of Clare had accepted the title of Earl of Thomond from
Henry;, the chiefs of his own blood set fire to his noble mansion at Clan-
road, near Ennis, and would have consumed him in the flames, but for
the timely interference of M Clanchy, chief justice of Munster. John

KING ALFRED EDUCATED IN IRELAND. 433

O'Neill, in the reign of Elizabeth, returned the patent of Earl of Ty-
rone, which his father accepted from Henry the Eighth. He com-
plained to the queen of the dishonor his father had affixed on the blood
by accepting a mushroom title from his enemies. In short, the Irish
chiefs regarded the English titles as degradations.

The assemblies which met in the ancient halls of legislation, under
Biien's reign, produced such a code of equitable laws, and the king had
them administered with such exactness, that the whole country assumed
a new face ; the cities, from a ruined state, became more ample and
splendid ; the churches, monasteries, and public hospitals, were repaired,
or rebuilt, with additional majesty ; piety, peace, and plenty, spread far
and wide ; learning every where resumed its position and influence, and
the eminent doctors of learning educated in Ireland were again sought
for by every nation of Europe to superintend their schools of literature,
religion, and music, — particularly those of England, which had been
suppressed by the Danes.

Here may be the place to introduce a glance at the progress of civilization
in England at this period. Alfred, who was educated in Ireland, and was
made thoroughly familiar with all the literature, laws, and customs, known
and practised there, no sooner completed the deliverance of his country
from the Danes, than he introduced among his subje-^ts all the good laws
of Ireland, amongst which were the trial by jury, the law of gavel,
the assembly of estates, the division of the country into counties or
shires, the law of Eric, and the Brehon code.

Turner, in his History of the Anglo-Saxons, quotes from the History
of Johna Tinmouth, in manuscripts in the Bodleian library, and the
chronicler Higden, (all three English writers,) and gives his belief of their
account of Alfred's place of education from almost childhood, thus :
" If it be true, as these chroniclers intimate, that infirm health occa-
sioned his father, in obedience to the superstition of the day, to send him
to Modwenna, a religious lady in Ireland, celebrated in sanctity, such
an expedition must, by its new scenes, have kept his curiosity alive,
and have amplified his information." — Turner's Anglo-Saxons, b. ii.
chap. viii.

The learned Usher has the following confirmatory paragraph : " Ut
de Polydoro Virgiiio, et Nicolao Harpsfeldio nihil dicam, qui nono post
Christum seculo Modvennam et oritham floruisse volunt, illos secuti
auctores, qui magnum Illium aluredum." — De Brit. Eccles. Primord.

The cure here said to have been performed on Alfred by Modwenna
is mentioned, also, says Moore, by Hanmer. Thus we have six Eng-
55

434 GLANCE AT ENGLAND IN THE TENTH CENTURY.

LisH AUTHORITIES, together with the profound Irish scholar Primate
Usher, assenting to the fact that King Alfred the Great received his
education, from the years of sickly childhood to ripe manhood, in
Ireland.

Alfred had been defeated in many battles with the Danes, but his
courage was invincible, and his spirit untiring. When the Danes
thought he and his friends were completely routed, he got into their
camp in the dress of a bard, and, lulling their apprehensions with the
music of his harp, informed himself of their position, returned, collected
his scattered friends, attacked them at the moment he knew they feasted
and indulged in excess, and by this and other signal acts of valor and
generalship, freed his country from their yoke. He fought fifty-six
battles with that barbarian power, and at length cleared them from his
kingdom.

Alfred turned the attention of the English to building small war
vessels, after the manner of the Irish. He established a regular militia
on the very principle of Fion M'Cumhall's, all of whom were well
armed, and registered. He introduced building with stone and brick
into England, and taught his countrymen the use of cement, previously
unknown to them. He also introduced the order of knighthood, and
created the first knight that was ever made in England ; namely, his
grandson Athelstan. He commenced the regular record of English
history, .customs, and laws, after the manner of the Psalters of Tara,
Cashell, and Tuam ; and that record which he commenced was, in other
ages, continued by Edward the Confessor, and was called by him the
Doomsday Book, from which William the Conqueror continued his na-
tional record. The body of laws which he then established in England
were the same as those in use in Ireland for so many ages, and were
totally different from the civil laws of Rome, compiled in the Pandects of
Justinian, or those introduced into England by William, in the eleventh
century. He obliged his nobility and chief men to bring up their chil-
dren to the highest state of excellence in every sort of learning. To
none would he give place or command that was not skilled in letters.
This was the very law and practice of Ireland for ages. He introduced
the practice of marking the hour of the day by the burning of a wax
candle, sticking a nail or a needle into the candle, forming divisions which
would denote the time passed, each mark denoting an hour. This
practice was known in the monasteries of Ireland, where watching and
prayers were regulated by these watch-lights. Alfred invented lanterns
to enclose these lights and protect them from the wind.

THE DANES AGAIN IN^^ADE IRELAND. 435

He established first, in England, an annual assembly of the estates,
i. e., bishops, priests, gentry, and artificers — exactly following, in this re-
spect, the constitution of the Tara assembly. This was held in London.
He followed the Irish practice, dividing England into shires, (counties,)
and appointing over each a lieutenant for its government — a practice
continued to this day. Alfred had an astonishing memory, and could
recite in verse the whole history of Ireland and England to his own
times. By his bravery he freed England from the Danes, and by his
wisdom conferred on his countrymen that body of laws known as the
British constitution. He built many churches, after the arched style
of Ireland, endowed them largely, and was buried in Winchester. After
Alfred's death, the Danes again ravaged England, and so subjugated
were the English, that one Dane was considered equal to ten English-
men. I utter this on the authority of Wade, the present living historian
of England. The English passed again under the Danish yoke, and
became subject to their kings. The monarch, Svein, was succeeded on
that throne by Knut, Harold and Horda Knut, written by some, Canute,
Harold, and Hardicanute.

But we must hasten to the grand concluding acts of the life of our
brave Brien Boroimhe. The Danes, encouraged by their great successes
in England, after the death of Alfred, as there existed nothing in
that quarter to give them apprehensions, now turned their longing eyes
once more on Ireland.

It has ever been the peculiar misfortune of Ireland, that her proud
chieftains were prone to quarrel with each other, and, by their dissensions,
give well-founded hopes to the enemies of their country. In this instance,
again, Ireland was not without her petty quarrel. It arose in a very silly
way. The sister of Maolmorda, prince of Leinster, was married to the
monarch Brien. The Leinster prince came to Brien to pay him the
obedience due from a provincial prince to the monarch of Ireland. For
this act of duty he was reproved by his sister, the queen of Brien.
High in her fancied dignity of blood, she would not suffer her brother to
bend before her husband. This brought on a coolness and dislike, and
ended in strife, which Brien avoided by every reasonable effort.

Meantime the Danes make great use of this lucky dissension, and
promise Maolmorda secret supplies of men and arms, to resist the
authority of the monarch Brien. To the shame of Ireland, I record
that he listened to the treacherous proposals. The Danes thereupon
make great preparations, and land a powerful army at Dublin. They
came from Sweden and Norway, and also from their settlements in

436 CLONTARF. JiCRMNG Oi THE BATTLE.

England. Never before was there so powerful an army landed on her
shores. Joined to the numerous tribes of Danes already scattered
through the country, together with the forces of the treacherous prince
of Leinster it formed a seemingly invincible army. They landed, and
garrisoned Dublin with sixteen or eighteen thousand men, besides the
troops which remained in their ships, that lay in Clontarf Bay, about
three miles from the city.

Brien, fully aware of all their movements, was not idle. He appeared
before Dublin in the beginning of April, in the year 1014. His army
amounted to fourteen thousand men, and he expected reenforcements
under his son Donough, who had been occupied in chastising the treach-
ery and insolence of the Leinster prince. He offered the Danes battle
on Palm Sunday, which they declined ; but on Good Friday they sig-
nified, by their dispositions, that they were about to attack.

Brien felt much grieved that a day so sacred to the Christian hear?
should have been chosen by the heathen invaders for the work of death.
But fight he must; no alternative remained.

At the earliest dawn, prior to the fatal signal, the good and gallant
monarch, accompanied by his son Murrough and his grandson Turlough^
rode through the ranks, animating the troops. The aged hero carried
in his hand a crucifix, reminding them of the day the invader chose to
give them battle ; the greater part of the army formed a circle round
their venerated monarch. He then addressed them in the following
short but powerful appeal, which has been translated from the Annals of
. Innisfallen : " Be not dismayed, my soldiers, because my son Donough
is avenging our wrongs in Leinster ; he will return victorious, and in the
glory of his conquests you shall share; On your valor rest the hopes
of your country to-day ; and what surer grounds can they rest upon ?
Oppression nov/ attempts to bend you down to servility : will you
not burst its chains, and rise to the independence of Irish freemen ?
Your cause is one approved by Heaven : you seek not the oppression
of others ; you fight for your country and your sacred altars. It is a
cause that claims a heavenly protection. In this day's battle, the inter-
position of that God who can give victory will be signally manifested in
your favor. Let every heart, then, be the throne of confidence and
courage. You know that the Danes are strangers to religion and hu-
manity ; they are inflamed with the desire of violating the fairest
daughters of this land of beauty, and enriching themselves with the
spoils of sacrilege and plunder. The barbarians have impiously fixed,
for their struggle to enslave us, upon the very day on which the Redeemer

THE BATTLE. 437

of the world was crucified : victory they shall not have. From such
brave soldiers as you they can never wrest it ; for you fight in defence
of honor, liberty, and religion — in defence of the sacred temples of tlie
Deity, and of your sisters, wives, and daughters. Such a holy cause
must be the cause of God, who will deliver your enemies, this day, into
your hands. Onward, then, for your country and your sacred altars ! "

The courageous old man then held out his vigil crucifix in one hand,
and waved his gold-hilted sword with the other, signifying that he was
willing to die in support of Christianity and Ireland, The whole army
heard this address, and were greatly animated. Brien was deeply al-
fected, and was proceeding to take his station in the midst of them, as
their general, when all the chiefs interposed, and implored him, on ac-
count of his age, (then eighty-eight,) to retire to his tent, and leave the
command to his son, the vahant Murrough. With this request he un-
willingly complied.

The Irish army then called on their chiefs to lead them to the fight ;
the intrepid Dalcassians, the body-guard of Brien, raised the sunburst
standard of Fingal, — the Gall-greana, or "blazing sun," marked with
the arms of the O'Brien, the hand and sword, bearing the inscrip-
tion, " Victory or Death ! "

The clash of battle commenced ; every chief, and every soldier, of
the Irish army, vied with each other in evincing a valor and hero-
ism worthy of the fame of Ireland. The Danes, on the other hand,
fought with a desperate resolution — an energy that required all the
genius and valor of the Irish generals to oppose. Every man fought,
under his respective ensigns, until felled by the spear or axe of his ad-
versary, when his place was quickly supplied by another. Every foot
of ground was contested. " I never," writes a spectator, in the Chroni-
con Scotorum, " beheld with my eyes, nor read in history, a sharper
and bloodier fight than this."

Princes Murrough and Turlough, the son and grandson of Brien,
fought like invincible beings : every where they darted on the fo'e, like
the flashes of lightning. The Danish princes, Carolus, Sitric, and
Conmael, fell by their swords ; and so did forests of others. A band of
one thousand of the Danish warriors were clad in tight armor, who
proved the most formidable of the foe. The fight had raged from sun-
rise till long past meridian, when the valiant Murrough, resolving to
conclude the gigantic fight, snatched the standard of Fingal, waved it
high above their heads, exclaiming, "■ Before the lapse of an hour, this

438 VICTORY. MURROUGH KILLED.

must float, either over the tents of the Danish camp, or over my dead
body:'

The other chiefs catch the fire of his kindling heroisnoi, and furiously
precipitate themselves on the foe. No human force could resist the
overwhelming charge. The Danes, thrown into confusion, fled on
every side, pursued to their very ships by the victorious Irish.

Murrough's right arm became so swollen, by the violent exertion of
wielding his sword all the day, that he could not raise it up, and knelt
beside a brook, to bathe it. At that moment a straggling party of Danes,
who were retreating from the field, accidentally came near, and one of
them, Anrud, a chief, set upon him ; but Murrough, though not able to
raise his right arm, with a trip prostrated him on the earth, and with his
left arm actually dragged his coat of mail over his head, placed the point
of his sword on his body, and, leaning on it, drove it through into
the earth ; while Murrough was so stooped over his foe, the expiring
Dane snatched a cimeter from Murrough's girdle, and plunged it into
his heart. The Dane expired immediately, and the brave Murrough
lingered till the ensuing day ; he received all the rites and consolations
of religion, ere his valiant spirit fled from earth.

Thus fell the Ajax of Clontarf. '• According to the Munster Book
of Batdes," says a learned antiquarian, " Prince Murrough was buried
in the west end of a chapel, in the cemetery at Kilmainham. Over his
remains was placed a lofty stone cross, of granite, on which his name was
engraven. About forty-five years ago, the cross fell from its pedestal.
•Under its base were found Danish coins and a fine sword, supposed to
be that which the prince used at the battle of Clontarf. This sword
hangs now in the apartments of the commander of the forces, at Kil-
mainham hospital."

Let us now look after the great " star of the field," Brien. Corco-
ran, one of his marshals, was the first to fly to the monarch's tent, with
the intelligence of the brave Murrough's death. He found him kneeling
before a crucifix ; and, on hearing the sad news, he thought the victory
was won by the Danes, and instantly said, " Do you and the other
chiefs fly to Armagh, and communicate my will to the successor of St.
Patrick. But as for me, I came here to conquer or to die, and the
enemy shall not boast that I fell by inglorious wounds." At this in-
stant, Broder, the Dane, with a small party, rushing, in their despair,
towards the wood, near which Brien's tent was erected, resolved, in the
madness of despair, to be avenged. The aged but heroic monarch, see-

DEATH OF BKIEN. INGLORIOUS ATTACK ON RETURNING TROOPS. 439

ing them rush into his tent, seized his sword, and with one blow, cut
off the legs of the first Dane that entered. Broder, entering next, struck
Brien on the back of the head with his axe ; but, in spite of the stun-
ning wound, Brien, with all the rage of a dying warrior, by a fortunate
stroke, cut off the head of Broder, and killed the third Dane that at-
tacked him ; a?id then calmly resigned himself to death.

Thus, in the eighty-eighth year of his age, in the midst of conquest,
fell one of the bravest, wisest, most patriotic and religious, of Ireland's
princes, whose reign exhibits the most splendid display of glory in the
annals of his country. His career, long and splendid, irradiated his coun-
try's name with a halo of glory. Its rays may yet enkindle in us the
fire of successful resistance to the cruel oppressors who now hold that
country in bondage.

Brien commanded in twenty-nine pitched battles against the Danes,
and the last fought by him extinguished their power in Ireland. He
was entombed in St. Patrick's cathedral, in Armagh, according to his
will. Some of the historians record that the remains of Murrough were
taken to Armagh. The victory of Clontarf was dearly bought : seven
thousand to ten thousand Irish fell that day, and upwards of fourteen
thousand Danes, with every one of their principal officers.

In a few days after the battle of Clontarf, the surviving chiefs agreed
to return home, each to his respective province. The Connacians set
out for their home, and so did the Ulster men to theirs.

The Munster heroes, one half of whom were wounded, began
their march towards their homesteads, under Donough, the son or
grandson of Brien ; but I am grieved to say, that passing through the
territory of Fitzpatrick, of Ossory, that inglorious chieftain came to
give them battle, owing to an old grudge which he entertained towards
them. The wounded men, the remnant of Brien's brave army, to the
number of eight hundred, addressed Donough, their leader, urging him to
allow them to join their companions against the inglorious foe. " Let
you, brave prince," said they, " cause a sufficient number of stakes to be
cut down in yonder wood, and driven into the battle-ground, to which
let us be tied, in such a manner as to have our hands and arms at liberty
to wield our weapons ; between every two of us, let a sound man be
placed, and let us stand to conquer or to die with our brave comrades."
The prince, moved to admiration at the glorious proposition, re-
luctantly complied, and the wounded men stopped their wounds with
moss. Thus stationed, these heroes waited the attack of their foes.
Perhaps, in the whole page of history, amongst the most valorous acts

440 BRAVERY OF THE WOUNDED MEN.

of ancient or modem heroes, there is nothing to equal this brilliant exhi-
bition. When the adverse forces made the first onslaught, and saw the
condition and the bravery of the wounded heroes, they suddenly halted,
and absolutely refused to repeat the charge. Such were the silent but
eloquent appeals of those brave, wounded heroes, — thus upheld, in the
battle, by stakes, — that the Prince of Ossory could not, or would not,
reanimate his troops to a second attack.

Those heroes then passed with glory to their homes, the proud con-
queror of their country's invaders and her internal foes. On this
battle and that of Clontarf, Moore has founded the inspiring song —
" Remember the glories of Brien the brave ! " It will be found in the
music of the next page, and its sentiment, I hope, will animate us in oui
struggle for our national parliament ; for ,

"Enough of his glory remains on each sword,
To light us to victory yet"

MUSIC AND POETRY.

441

REMEMBER THE GLORIES OF BRIEN.

BY MOORE.

Bold.

^^-

^E3E3

^^^EE^^:^^EE^-^

1. Re-mem-ber the glo - lies of Bri - en the

lE:

£:

^ — Sri — ^ ^^ — R~i?'i

brave,* Tho' the days of the he

ro are

-#-

-F i

-r

o er :

Tho' lost to Mo - no - nia,f and

'¥-

l-f^~m~.'-i

cold in the grave, He re - turns to Kin

^#-

£:

-#f-

* Brien Boroimhe,the great monarch of Ireland, who was killed at the battle of
Clontarf, in the beginning of the eleventh century, after having defeated the Danes
in twenty-five engagements.

♦ Manster. na

442

MUSIC AND POETRr.

ko - ra * no more !

That star of the

IJ-^LlJ

Its

e±

field, which so

P
oft - en

:r'

i^:

has poured

~l I"

-E:

--^-^T

:«r3=prp

"g 1 — r

beam on the bat - tie,
&- ^ #

-#-

But e

EsPRESs. Lentando.

-#--

nough of its glo - ry re - mains on each sword,

iE^:

:pz^

LL Jr Tempo.

icr^jc

-F

To light us to vie - to - ry yet.

:F-:

zzztP-

Fgi^T^TE

The palace of Brien.

MUSIC AND POETRT.

443

Mononia ! when Nature embellished the tint

Of thy fields, and thy mountains so fair,
Did she ever intend that a tyrant should print

The footstep of Slavery there?
No, Freedom 1 whose smiles we shall never resign,

Go, tell our invaders, the Danes,
That 'tis sweeter to bleed for an age at thy shrine,

Than to sleep but a moment in chains!
3.
Forget not our wounded companions,* who stood,

In the day of distress, by our side !
While the moss of the valley grew red with their blood,

They stirred not, but conquered, and died !
The sun, that now blesses our arms with his light,

Saw them fall upon Ossory's plain:
O 1 let him not blush, when he leaves us to-night,

To find that they fell there in vain !

* This alludes to an interesting circumstance related of the Dalgais, the favorite
troops of Brien, when they were interrupted in their return from the battle of
Clontarf, by Fitzpatrick, prince of Ossory. The wounded men entreated that they
might be allowed to fight with the rest. "Let stakes," they said, "be stuck in
the ground, and suffer each of us, tied to and supported by one of these stakes, to
be placed in his rank by the side of a sound man." " Between seven and eight
hundred wounded men," adds O'Halloran, " pale, emaciated, and supported in this
manner, appeared mixed with the foremost of the troops ; never was such another
sight exhibited."

RICH AND RARE WERE THE GEMS SHE WORE,

BY MOORE,

Iw Moderate Time.

?^^^^^

T-

* » ^-

1. Rich and rare were the gems

at-a

—Sz±=e-

she

444

MUSIC AND POETRY.

ks>-

wore,

And a bright gold ring on her

1 — ^1 f-

"H"

ig&

F=g5=£

But, O !

wand she

bore ;

her

S?'

=ip:

i=F=[

~n"

beau - ty was

be - yond

:!z*Ej

-"5^

':=tt— p-

^r-fz:

±:

"S>~

spark - ling gems, or snow - white wand ; But

£=:

* This ballad is founded upon the following anecdote: "The people were in-
spired with such a spirit of honor, virtue, and religion, by the great example of
Brien, and by his excellent administration, that, as a proof of it, we are informed
that a young lady of great beauty, adorned with jewels and a costly dress, under-
took a journey alone from one end of the kingdom to the other, with a wand only
in her hand, at the top of which was a ring of exceeding great value ; and such
an impression had the laws and government of this monarch made on the minds
of all the people, that no attempt was made upon her honor, nor was she robbed
of her clothes or jewels."

MUSIC AND POETRY.

445

=«=[:

i ^ - a • F —i \

O ! her beau - ty was far be - yond Her

f^^

f^^^h

spark - ling gems, and snow - white wand !

:?=?

iffi

-iS>'

:S=£:

" Lady, dost thou not fear to stray,

So lone and lovely, through this bleak way?

Are Erin's sons so good, or so cold.

As not to be tempted by woman or gold?"

" Sir Knight ! I feel not the least alarm ;
No son of Erin will offer me harm :
For, though they love woman, and golden store,
Sir Knight ! they love honor and virtue more ! "

On she went ; and her maiden smile
In safety lighted her round the green isle ;
And blessed forever is she, who relied
Upon Erin's honor, and Erin's nrirlo i

446

MUSIC AND POETRY.

SING, WHACKl FOR THE EMERALD ISLEl

E - rin doth tru - ly ex - eel ;

For vir - tue, for

iEg?EE£EE

3?E

N--

or and fun, 'Tis famous, the world sure can

-#-

^=r

'^9-

tell.

The boys are all fris - ky ; the girls,

r-#— #-^-

=--^P==TE

^r^

Sweet daughters of vir - tue they prove;

The

'— r — p~^—w

sr — 1^_

for - mer ne'er dread a -

I r

per - ils ;

The

=g53E-J=$

i-r-l-

lat - ter are brim-ful of

love.

Then sing,

whack! for the Em - e - raid isle.

Where shil

BIUSIC AND POETRY.

447

^—

-#-

le - lahs and sham - rocks a - bound ;

^^^

May

peace and pros - per

» »

i - ty smile

O'er the

land, and its na - lives all round.

As for heroes, we have them in plenty,

From gallant old Brien Boroimhe ;
In battles, faith, upwards of twenty,

He leathered the Danes black and blue.
Invasion her sons could not sever;

Like lions they fought on the strand ;
And may their descendants forever

Protect their own beautiful land.
Then smg, whack, &;c.

Our forefathers tell us. Saint Pat

Drove venom away from our shore ;
The shamrock he blessed, and for that.

We'll steep it in whisky no more.
He told us, while time would remain,

Still merry should be the gay sod ;
And bloom in the midst of the main.

With the footsteps of friendship be trod.
Then sing, whack, Sic.

LECTTJEE XIII.

RELIGION, LITERATURE, AND
ARCHITECTURE.

Review of the Danish Wars. — Reflections. — Lessons of History. — Religion of the
first Irish Christians. — Derived from Rome. — Nature qf the Popedom. — Rehgion
of Ireland and Rome alike. — Proofs. — Usher's Grandson. — The Councils of
Fathers. — How the Scriptures were compiled. — When and by whom written. —
Christian Religion established before the Scriptures were written. — Catholic
Church Evidence for the Scriptures. - — Councils of the early Fathers. — Safest
Interpreters. — The Bible. — Who shall explain it ? — Where is the true Version ?

— Effects of individual Judgment. — Clerical Interference in cjvil Affairs. — The
Monks. — Abbots. — Christian Warriors. — The Pope's Connection with civil
Affairs. — His present Authority defined. — Debate on the Point in the Irish Re-
peal Association. — Ecclesiastical Dissensions in Ireland. — Tithes first introduced.
Discipline and Order restored. — Literature of this Period. — Moore's Descrip-
tion. — Tigernach. — King Cormac. — His Wars. — Death and Will. — Reflections.

— Architecture at this Period. — Irish Architecture. — Mode of treating the
Question. — Patriarchal Temples. — Ancient Caves. — Pyramids. — Round Tow-
ers. — Conical Huts. — Tents. — First Cities. — First Architects. — The Phoenicians
and their Cities. — Testimony of Holy Writ. — Jewish Temples. — Chinese Archi-
tecture.— Etrurian Architecture. — The Arch. — Cement. — Grecian and Irish
Architecture distinct in Principle. — Grecian Orders. — Roman Architecture. —
Irish Architecture. — Style of the first Christian Churches. — The Goths. — The
Architecture of Ireland. — The great Hall of Tara. — First Christian Churches of
Ireland. — Antiquities neglected. — Origin of the pointed Arch. — Splendid Ruins.

— Opinion of English Architects. — Great Antiquity of Ireland. — Beauty of its Ar-
chitecture.— Cormac's Chapel. — Willis's Opinion. — Perspective View of the
Interior of Cormac's Chapel. — Irish Style. — Art of staining Glass known to the
Irish. — Their Sculptures. — Chieftains' Castles. — Standing Cathedrals. — Section-
al View of Holy Cross Abbey. — Remarks. — What Nation originally possessed the
Germ of this grand Architecture ? — Buildings of the Ancient Brltoi^. — Of the
Anglo-Saxons. — Of the Picts.— Of the Welsh. — Of the Gauls and French.—
Of the Italians. — Condition of Europe in the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth
Centuries. — The Irish Monks the Architects of Europe . — First Monasteries erected
in England. — Monasteries built on the Continent of Europe by Irish Monks. —
Dr. Milner's Opinion. — Further English Evidences. — St. Peter's at Oxford mod-
elled after Cormac's Chapel. — Salisbury Cathedral, after Holy Cross Abbey. —
Did the pointed Style come from the East .'' — Character of Irish Architecture. —
Origin of the Term " Gothic." — Variations in Style. — Revival of Architecture in
Ireland. — Irish Architects of the present Day in England and America.

REVIEW OF THE DANISH WARS. REFLECTIONS. 449

In the preceding section I have given the great outline of the Danish
wars in Ireland. Those wars were, with the exception of a few short
intermissions, continued for two hundred and forty years. Seven or eight
generations of Irishmen were born, and were cut off by the sword, and
by death, from the commencement of those wars to their termination.
During all this time, the Danes never established a sovereignty in Ire-
land. Their nearest approach to it was made during the leadership of
Turgesius ; and then the proud Dane reigned jointly only with Mala-
chy, by a compromise, I admit, degrading to the latter.

Their years of sovereignty over a part of Ireland were few. They
were never masters of the whole. While England yielded in despair to
their dominion, and received from them a race of kings ; while the French
compromised for their independence,. and yielded up to the invader, as
the price of peace, a large portion of their territory, on which was found-
ed the kingdom of Normandy, — Ireland gave, in every generation, a
new race of heroes, who contended inch by inch for their freedom, and,
falling, bequeathed the battle to their posterity. If, from the first Dan-
ish battle to the last,- we subtract the years of peace from those of war,
we shall find there were two hundred years of fighting. The old histo-
rians spread those battles on their canvass in life size. Were I to
imitate them, the " Danish Invasions " would fill two volumes as large
as this. The battles were of the most sanguinary character ; the perse-
verance, desperation, and ferocity, of the Danes, were equalled only by
the unconquerable spirit and bravery of the Irish. Whole legions, from
three thousand to five thousand men each, were again and again cut off:
yet new invaders appeared, in still greater numbers, as if borne to our
shores by an ungovernable instinct. They came, were killed, and their
places were supplied by others. I should estimate about twenty-five
thousand Irishmen fell every year during the two hundred years of war.
This estimate, which is moderate, would lead us to a result which cannot
but astonish, — that ^ce millions of Irishmen bled on the field, for the
independence of their native land, during those two centuries. I am
certain, from the returns given by the old histories, that double that
number fell on the Danish side. I know not the wars, on the page
of history, to liken these to, for duration and desperate valor, on
both sides, save the Punic wars, between the Romans and Cartha-
ginians, and those between the followers of Mahomet and the cross.

There can hardly be named a single church, castle, or other sacred
building, that existed in Ireland before the Danish wars, which was not
taken, pillaged, battered down, retaken, rebuilt, redestroyed, ten times
57

450 LESSONS IN HISTORY.

over during these terrible contests. The remorseless savages, impelled
as much by the desire of plunder as by hatred of the cross, invaded
the sanctuaries of piety and literature, scattered the shrines of the dead,
desecrated the altars of sacrifice, burnt the valued libraries of the col-
leges, demolished the venerated evidences of architectural genius ; and
yet the Milesian race refused to yield their country up.

Six generations had fought and fell, and the seventh was found by
the Danes as unconquerable as the first.

Where, in the volume of history, is the "parallel of that to be found 1
Not on the historic page of England ! not on the historic page of
France !

Let that proud fact be engraved on the heart of every
Irishman.

Let it be proclaimed at home; let it be trumpeted abroad; let it be
rehited by mothers to their babes ; let it be told by old men ; let it be
sung in ballads ; let it be blown from the clarion ; let it be sounded
from every instrument that speaketh with strings — that, though Eng-
land submitted, and received a race of kings from, the northern inva-
ders— that, though France yielded them half her territory, Ireland
never yielded them an inch — fought against them two hun-
dred AND forty years, AND SUBDUED THEM AT LAST.

Who will tell us that the present race of Irishmen are less brave, or
less oppressed, than those who lived in the days of the Malachys and
the Briens ?

O Irishmen, bear in mind the wise axiom of one of your own wri-
ters, in the Nation : —

" History's lessons, if you read 'em,
Will impart this truth to thee —
Knowledge is the price of freedom ;
Know yourselves, and you are free."

The history of those wars will teach Irishmen this lesson, — when-
ever they yielded to the gratification of their personal resentments towards
each other, — whenever they yielded to dissensions and quarrels amongst
themselves, — then the Danes were encouraged to make new invasions,
and, so long as this local strife continued, were victorious. But, when-
ever the Irish chiefs and provinces cordially united, their resistance of
the invader was crowned with triumphant success.

This "lesson" is literally as applicable to their wars with the Eng-
lish as with the Danes, as will appear, unfortunately, too plain in the
succeeding pages. Their battles with the English, though now carried

ANCIENT RELIGION OF IRELAND. 451

on by the tongue and pen, are yet as hot, and as pregnant of suffering,
as ever. » It would be a signal blessing to the Irish race, were they
gifted with perception sufficiently capacious to measure the power of
UNITY. Such unity can grow only from kindness to each other, mutual
forbearance, a toleration of each other's opinions, and even faults and
follies ; an individual suppression of vanity, resentments, illegitimate
ambition ; a religious oblivion of all old family, personal, party, or county
animosities ; a thorough contempt for distinction, grounded on the pos-
session of wealth merely, or family heritage ; neither of which can make
a man noble or pure, though either is sure to make him vain — a most
dangerous foible among a people struggling to be free. Vanity, scat-
tered through the ranks of the people, is worse than the shells of their
enemies. Ingratitude, on the other hand, from the people to their
servants, is full as mischievous. Therefore it is necessary that they
be instructed and intelligent, either to recover their liberties, or to
preserve them. Vanity and cant, the counterfeit of patriotism, will
pass on an ignorant multitude for the genuine ore. Any movement
for freedom, built on such machinery, will break down, and tend, at
the conclusion, to strengthen tyranny. An intelligent community will
detect the counterfeit from the genuine metal, and, whether the latter be
found in the cottage or the castle, will prize it equally. Among such a
people tyranny cannot live. This all history teaches.

The reader, after so long a study of war, will naturally feel desirous
to learn the general state of religion, hterati^re, architecture, arts, &;c.,
at this period, in Ireland. I shall, in this section, devote a few pages
to each topic ; and first, on

RELIGION.

The first Christian missionaries that appeared in Ireland were, accord-
ing to the strongest probabilities, disciples of St. John, who preached to
the Eastern nations. Among these, history has recorded St. Mansuetus.
The second and more numerous teachers proceeded directly from
Rome, and bore the commission to preach from the then occupant of
Peter's chair. In the earlier struggles of Christianity, during the first,
second, and third centuries, the chief bishop of the Christians had
no settled habitation. He was driven about from Rome to Jemsalem,
from thence to Antioch, and from Antioch to Byzantium. Often was he
sacrificed to the ferocity of the Romans ; but his place was quickly filled
by another, elected from among the ecclesiastics of the church. The
pope might be crucified, but the chief of the Christian church still lived

452 NATURE OF THE POPEDOM.

in his appointed successor. The term pope itself is derived from pater
patrie, " father of fathers," of which papa is an abbreviation, and from
which "pope" has grown ; and the elemental constitution of thisyh^Aer
is not unlike that of the president of the United States.

The one is elected from among bis fellows to fill the chair of the
Christian republic, the other to fill the chair of the republic of the Uni-
ted States. The one is invested with supreme and sovereign power for
the control and protection of the community ; so is the other. The
president is elected for a term of four years, the pope for the remainder
of his life. The popes, being generally selected from the oldest men,
have not reigned beyond an average term of seven years each. There
have been two hundred and sixty popes in one thousand eight hun-
dred years, which give about seven years to each. Ten presidents of
the United States have governed in sixty-one years, which give an
average of six years, nearly, to each. The pope is assisted by a
council of bishops and cardinals, generally seventy-two in number, and,
in difficult cases, by a council of the entire church — that is, representa-
tives from the priesthood of every nation, called a general council;
the president, by the senate and congress. For a time, during the
struggle of the revolution, the constitution and laws of that jx)wer which
we noiv call the United States, were centred in the jjerson of George
Washington. The entire government and direction of the Christians,
during seasons of persecution, were similarly deposited in the sole keep-
ing of an individual bishop. As soon as the strife was over between
the apostles of civil liberty and the agents and armies of tyranny, on this
continent, councils of the various states of the Union were held, and cer-
tain regulations were established for the government and guidance of the
newly-disenthralled community. The early Christians, as soon as the
war of persecution was abated, and their own triumph established, called
general councils for the regulation of their affairs, which consisted of the
most discreet, learned, and zealous of their ecclesiastics. In the case of
the Americans, liberty, with its attributes, — equity, law, protection, —
was established in the minds of millions of men, before the constitution
was written, or the laws agreed upon. Religion — the Christian reli-
gion — was established in the hearts of millions before the Gospels were
written, or gathered into a compiled code. The earliest councils of
the Christian church were those of Carthage and Nice, held in the
close of the third and beginning of the fourth centuries. These coun-
cils, in condemning newly-started doctrines, agreed upon a united inter-
pretation of the Holy Scriptures, old and new, expounded several difficult

NATURE OF THE POPEDOM. 453

points, and gave us a code of religious instructions and laws for our
government.

The pope and his council of cardinals, for the time being, are intrust-
ed with the administration of the Christian code of faith and morals, but
cannot alter them in any essential. This, I take it, is the nature and
extent of the president's authority. He may, according to the constitu-
tion, exercise his supreme power, even despotically, in carrying on the
government, or in preventing an alteration of the laws ; but to alter the
laws himself would be treason to the community, and he dares not
attempt it. Even so it is with the pope.

General councils of the church have had their majorities and minori-
ties, on difficult and perplexing questions ; but the articles of Christian
faith remained undisturbed, though clerical discipline has experienced
occasional alterations. The same may be said of the general practice of
the American government ; and, to carry on the parallel, I may add,
that patriarchs are appointed by the pope to take charge of the ecclesi-
astical interests of nations, equalling in relative authority the governors
of our American states.

I have made these preliminary remarks with a view of removing
from between the reader and me a cloud of prejudice, (should it exist,)
which may have been generated by long-continued abuse of the Cath-
olic religion, within his hearing, or by the perusal of authors, of
counterfeit talent, who rely for their success less upon their power to
create than to destroy, and more upon their power to degrade humanity
than to exalt it, — who would, to get a blow at the Catholic church,
trample down humanity itself.

To return now to the direct question. St. Palladius and St. Patrick
brought into Ireland the code of faith, ceremonials, and discipline, estab-
lished by the first general councils of Christians that were held any
where ; viz., the councils of Carthage and Nice. And it was singular
to find, as O'Halloran remarks, that the ceremonials and articles of faith
of those Irish Christians who had been converted by the earlier mission-
aries, who came from the East, before any general council of the church
had been held, coincided in all articles of faith, morals, and ceremonial,
with those agreed upon at these first general councils of the Christian
church. St. Patrick, having been the successful agent of the Lord in
the conversion of all Ireland, was intrusted by the pope with the power
of consecrating bishops. And on his second visit to Rome, he was
intrusted, by the successor of Celestine, Pope Hilarius, with the power
of holding a primacy and council in Ireland, where all matters of disci-
pline, including the appointment of bishops, ordination of clergymen,

454 ST. patkick's injunction. — usher's history.

and the establishment of churches, colleges, and monasteries, were ad-
ministered. This power was conceded to the bishop of Armagh as
" primate of Ireland," until about the eleventh century. Appeals and
references, in difficult matters, were sometimes made to the archbishop
of Canterbury, as the legatus natus of the British islands.

It does not appear, during the five or six centuries which passed
from St. Patrick's mission to the eleventh century, that there took
place any very frequent interference of the pope, in the administration of
the Irish church ; though it was the constant practice of Irish ecclesiastics
to proceed to Rome for instruction, edification, or appointment. Indeed,
this practice was not confined to ecclesiastics ; for the laity of the middle
ages, of all countries, and especially of Ireland, faced to Rome, in their
holy pilgrimages, it being the centre seat of Christianity. That able
controversialist on the Catholic side. Dr. Milner, arrays, in his reply to
Ledwich, a host of incidents, appointments, correspondences, references,
appeals, that took place, from the fifth to the twelfth century, between
the Irish clergy and the Roman see, which leave no doubt upon the
mind, that the religion established by St. Patrick in Ireland, and that
established in England by St. Austin, were, in faith, morals, and cere-
monials, substantially the same with that practised in Rome during
coeval ages.

In 629, there was a national ecclesiastical synod held in Ireland, in
M hich the following clause was passed among their acts : " That, on
questions of peculiar moment or difficulty arising in Ireland, recourse
should he had to the apostolic see." This canon was passed in accord-
ance with the advice which St. Patrick had solemnly given to his clergy
in Armagh, to apply, in all questions of difficulty, to the holy see, as he
expressed it, velut natos ad matrem — " like children to a mother."
See iS*^. Cummian's Ep. in Sylloge, as quoted by the Very Reverend Dr.
MiLEY, of Dublin, in his late very able letters on this question. "This
is," adds the doctor, " an epitome of what Primate Usher has said of St.
Patrick." He gives, in his Antiquities, the vouchers for this, and much
more. Yet that same archbishop, later in his life, under the influence
of the anti-Catholic King James the First, and in view of the primacy
of Ireland, wrote his " libel " on the " religion of the ancient Irish," which
appeared to be so contradictory of his able work on her antiquities,
written with the honesty of youth, that his grandson, the Rev. James
Usher, having investigated the pros and cons of his learned relative, not
only abjured the Protestant form of worship, in which he had been edu-
cated, and of which he was a distinguished and well-paid minister, but
absolutely joined the Catholic church, in which he became an edifying

usher's grandson became a catholic. 455

and zealous priest, and raised his able pen in defence of the creed which
he had from conviction espoused.

In a letter, published a century ago, (quoted by Dr. Miley,)
addressed to some of the anti-Catholic writers of the day, he says,
" When you attack the church of Rome, you never fail to assault her
in some point or other in which she is impregnable. You accuse her
of teaching idolatry, or impiety, &;c. This, to be sure, gains you a
temporary applause amongst your zealous partisans, and influences their
hatred against Papists ; but, in the mean time, the Papists themselves,
being conscious of the falsehood of these charges, are confirmed in their
religion, and serious Protestant seekers, (like myself,) discovering by
degrees the same falsehood, are induced to go over to the Popish com-
munion."

" Primate Usher," continues Dr. Miley, " details, in his Antiquities,
how the faith was first founded in Britain, while yet a Roman province,
by missionaries from the pope, A. D. 181. They return to give an
account of their successes, just as St. Boniface and St. Patrick did.

' Sic disposita regione,
Doctores Romam repetunt, coniirmat eorum,
Dictus apodtolicus factum,' &c. — Gildas.

" The decrees of a council, consisting of six hundred bishops, who
met at Aries in the year 314, were subscribed by the bishops of Lon-
don and York, with other prelates of Britain ; and in one of those
decrees there is the clearest recognition of papal supremacy. That
supremacy was still more emphatically asserted and enforced in the
great council of Sardica, A. D. 347 ; and Usher again tells us — indeed,
he could not deny it — that there also some prelates of Britain assisted.
In fine, the church of the Britons, or Welsh, as we now call them, used
to be visited and reformed by the pope's legates even after the Saxon
conquest ; so that, of the subordination of the British church to the
pope's, there can be no question whatever ; and consequently, if it were
only on this account alone, there ought to be none as to the similar sub-
ordination of the Irish church, because that between the British and
Irish there was the most perfect accord and sympathy in religious views,
is admitted on all hands."

The celebrated Irish father St. Columbanus, who in the sixtli century
established so many churches in Germany, writing to Pope Honorius the
Fourth, proves, incontestably, that the Irish clergy adhered strictly to
the see of Rome, in faith and practice. I make one extract : he begins,
'^ Pulcherrimo omnium Euro])(B ecclesiarum caviti — papa pradulci

456 RELIGION OF IRELAND AND ROME ALIKE.

— pastorum pastori — To the head most serene of all the churches of
Europe — to the pope best beloved — to the pastor of pastors : — it is
not as an alien that I write. 1 address you as a friend, as a follower, as
a disciple ; wherefore my language shall be such as ought to be addressed
to the pilot and mystic steersman of the spiritual ship, &tc. Thus shall
I presume, because we Irish are the disciples of St. Peter and St. Paul,
stationed on the verge of the world. We are on that account more
scrupulous in admitting nothing but what is apostolical. Amongst us,
no heretic, feud, or schismatic, was ever met with ; but that faith which
we first received from the successors of the apostles, we cling to, with a
constancy that cannot be shaken," he. — Sacra Collectanea, 1667.

And it is a remarkable fact, that, amid the incredible crowd of learned
ecclesiastics which Ireland gave to the church in fourteen hundred
years, not one of them ever originated a schism ! While other nations
changed their creed oft and oft, Ireland remained as firm in her first
faith as the rock Peter.

In 6S0, St. Wilfrid, archbishop of York, assisted at the first great
Lateran council of one hundred and twenty-five bishops, under Pope
Agatho, in which he bore testimony to the orthodoxy of the churches
of Ireland, as well as those of Britain.

That philosophical controversialist. Dr. Milner, thus speaks, in another
page : " It is objected, by Usher, that what is called St. Patrick's purgato-
ry, was not instituted by the saint of that name. This I readily grant,
for it was set on foot by an Abbot Patrick, several ages later, and was
once suppressed by an order of the pope, ni 1497. But if he argues
from thence that St. Patrick and the early Christians did not believe in
a middle state of souls after death, which may be assisted by the prayers
of living Christians, he is guilty of an error both in reasoning and in
fact. It will be seen in this saint's second council, that he forbids the
holy sacrifice of the mass to be offered up for those persons, after their
death, who had rendered themselves unworthy of having it offered up
for them during their lifetime. It will not be disputed that the writings
of Bede abound with testimonies in favor of prayers for the dead, of
purgatory, he, (see his Ecclesiastical History, chap. 22, vol. xi. chap.
19;) and it is a fact that he himself, when he came to die, earnestly
desired that prayers and masses might be offered for him. (See Cuth-
bert's Bede, tom. iii.)

" It is said that St. Patrick condemned the worship of images.
True, he condemned and extirpated the use of pagan idols ; but there is
not the shadow of an argument to show that he deviated from the
received doctrine and practice of the universal church, with respect to

ANCLENT PRACTICES. 457

the paying a proper reverence to the cross of Christ, his image, or the
images and rehcs of the martyrs and saints, or with respect to the pious
usage of desiring the saints to offer up pray ere for us. Before St. Patrick
arrived in Ireland, he saw the cross of Christ exahed upon the imperial
standards of Constantine, and he left the great doctors of Christianity,
Chrysostom, Aiigmtine, Prosper, and Leo, bearing ample testimony
to all these practices. He himself is recorded as bringing over relics
into these islands, as Usher acknowledges St. Pailadius did before him.
We find that St. Patrick condemned certain criminals to twelve
months' public penance for their sins — a mode of atonement then much
practised by the church, but limited, in modern ages, to private acts of
penance, consisting of prayer and fasting.

"With respect to our native historian and theologian, Venerable
Bede, whom Usher appeals to, he describes St. Augustine of Canter-
bury preaching the gospel to King Ethelbert, with the cross for an
ensign, and the figure of Christ for an emblem ; he represents the same
saint consecrating pagan temples with holy water and relics, and offer-
ing up homage to God by the sacrifice of the mass. With respect to
images in particular, Venerable Bede proves that God did not interdict
the total use of them, by his commanding the figures of cherubim and
oxen to be placed in the temple : ' for certainly,' he adds, ' if it is lawful
to make twelve oxen of brass, to support the brazen sea, it cannot be
amiss to paint the twelve apostles going to preach to all nations. We
are told that the liturgy of St. Patrick differed from that of the Roman
church. It is not, however, proved to have differed, in the smallest
tittle, from that which was followed at Rome when St. Patrick received
his mission ; much less Is It proved to have deviated in any point which
is essential to the nature of the sacraments and sacrifice of the church
in all ages and countries. That the Catholic liturgies of all times and
countries have been essentially the same in this respect, is abundantly
proved by divines and canonists. Nevertheless, it is to be proved that a
certain latitude, in mere ceremonies and particular devotions, has always
been allowed to great or national churches, under the regulation of their
head pastors. St. Gregory permitted our apostle, St. Augustine, to
adopt any usages of this nature for the Infant church of the English,
which he might choose to borrow from the French or other Catholic na-
tions ; and the court of Rome, at the present day, so far from requiring
the orthodox Greeks, who have colleges there, to conform to her ritual
in these unessential points, obliges them to adhere to their own. It
appears that the mass was sometimes, in former ages, said by the Irish
58

458 ANCIENT PRACTICES OF THE CHURCH.

clergy at night. So it was, in the same ages, and on the same occa-
sions, — namely, on the eves of certain great festivals, — by the clergy of
every other Catholic country. It is still said by us at midnight on
Christmas night. In the mean time, we learn from Bede, that nine of
the clock in the morning was the usual time of saying it. Bede and
Cogitosus speak of ' the sacrament of the Lord's body and blood ; '
whence it appears that the sacrament was in ancient times administered
in both kinds. I answer, that the Catholics use the same language
at the present day, though the laity receive the sacrament only under
one kind ; that the difference of receiving it under one or under both
kinds, is a mere point of discipline, which may be, and has been,
changed, as the circumstances of time and place required ; and that,
nevertheless, the present practice of the church, in communicating to the
laity under the form of bread alone, was the practice of our infant Eng-
lish church, as appears from Bede himself. In the mean time, we are
to observe that this illustrious doctor of the English church, at the begin-
ning of the eighth century, expressly teaches, not only that the mass is
a true sacrifice, in which Christ is truly and really present, but also that
a true and proper change or transubstantiation of the bread and wine
into the body and blood of Christ takes place in it. I will transcribe
bis words, and I defy the subtilty of the most ingenious controvertist
to give them any other meaning than that which I have assigned.

" ' Lavat nos (Christus) a peccatis nostris quotidie in sanguine suo,
cum ejusdem beatee passionis memoiia ad altare replicatur, cum panis et
vini creatura in sacramentum carnis et sanguinis ejus, ineflabili spiritus
sanctificatioiie transfertur : sicque corpus et sanguis illius non infide-
lium manibus ad perniciem ipsorum funditur, et occiditur, sed, fidelium
ore, suam sumitur ad salutem.' " Bed, Hom. in Epiph. tom. 7.

[" Christ washes us daily from our sins, in his blood, when the memory
of his blessed passion is renewed at the altar, when the substance of
bread and wine is changed into the sacrament of his body and blood
by the ineffable santification of the Holy Ghost ; and thus his body and
blood is immolated and shed ; not by the hands of infidels to their
eternal ruin, but they are received by the faithful for their salvation."]

As the doctrine of the eastern church is particularly implicated in
the present controversy, I shall select, from among scores of other
testimonies relating to it, a passage from the catechetical discourses
of a holy father who was bishop of the primitive church of the fourth
century : " The bread and wine of the eucharist, before the invocation
of the adorable Trinity, were mere bread and wine; but that invo-
cation having taken place, the bread becomes the body of Christ,

THE COUNCILS OF FATHERS. 459

and the wine becomes the blood of Christ. Since, then, Christ thus
declares concerning the bread, 'This is my body,' who can doubt any-
longer? And since he confirms what he said, and declares, ^ This is
MY BLOOD,' who will dare to hesitate, and affirm that it is not his
blood? He once changed water into wine, which resembles blood,
at Cana in Galilee ; and is he riot worthy to be believed, when he
says that he changes wine into blood?" he. — St. Cyril of Jerusalem.
Catech. Mystagog. i. — See also the Liturgy of St. Basil, and of St.
Chrys. in Le Brun, &lc.

I have been tempted to insert from Dr. Milner these few words of
explanation of some of the doctrines of the Catholic church. We can-
not account for the obstinacy with which the great bulk of the people
of Ireland adhere to the Catholic faith, without remembering that it is
the same which Patrick taught them fourteen hundred years ago.
Patrick may have been wrong, and the councils of Christian fathers who
assembled at Carthage, and Nice, and Constantinople, in the third
and fourth centuries, may have mistaken the meaning of the Scriptures,
which they themselves had gathered and compiled, and from which
point Christianity started, with the seal of a great council of learned
teachers and profound believers, affixed in unity upon its brow. Lo-
gicians and subtile reasoners may go behind these early councils, or take
their position on some spot several centuries this side of their delibera-
tions. Yet I know not that they can present us with a better scheme
for our salvation than that which those Christian fathers have left us.

When sonie persons tell me — and it is no unfrequent thing — that
they do not see how any intelligent or enlightened man can believe in
the absurd doctrines of the Catholic religion, I naturally feel a desire to
learn which creed of all those who have separated from her is more
consistent with the true ideas of reason and intelligence, or with the
Testaments, Old and New. If Christ came to fulfil what had been fore-
told by the prophets, — if he confirmed the correctness and divine mis-
sion of these prophets, — he must have left prophets to carry on the
administration of religion, as it had been carried on before his time.
He did not, it appears, condemn what Moses had recorded, or the laws
and commandments which he professed to have had from the direct
revelations of God. On the contrary, he came, as he tells us, to confirm
them in all their great particulars, and to leave behind him men, like
Moses, who were specially instructed to preach and teach. Christ did
not write any portion of the New Testament ; he did not write any
thing connected with his mission except once, and then it was with his
finger, in the sand. Nearly all the apostles had written down what

460 HOW THE SCRIPTURES WERE COMPILED.

they heard him say and saw him do, from their memories, some years
after his death, in compliance with the wishes of congregations or indi-
viduals. The Christian religion, consisting of baptism, sacrifice,
and penance, including the morals comprehended in the ten command-
ments, was established before the Neio Testament was written.

Ere the apostles separated, to preach to all nations, they agreed upon
a doctrine, upon a united and common interpretation of Christ's mission
and maxims ; that doctrine is comprehended in the aposdes' creed,
which is found in every Catholic prayer-book. It was some twenty
and fifty years after our Lord's death, that the books called the Gospels,
with others not preserved, were written by the apostles and their imme-
diate disciples. These were gathered before a council of Christian
bishops and teachers at Carthage, in the fourth century, when an
examination of them all took place, and a selection of the most concise
and direct histories of our Redeemer's hfe and conversations was jnade.
This selection was then compiled into that book which they called the
New Testament, being the continuation and fulfilment of those revela-
tions of God contained in the Old.

The apostles and their disciples did not write those books while in
direct communication with each other, nor did they resort to any par-
ticular means to have them published to the Christians of countries
distant from those in which they preached. St. Peter, who was the
first POPE or chief of the Christians, by the appointment of the Redeem-
er, preached through India, Syria, Italy, and lastly, in Rome, where he
was crucified, about twenty-seven years after our Lord's death. St.
John wrote in Asia, having travelled much in the East. His writings
were principally directed to prove the divinity of Christ.

St. Paul preached throughout Lesser Asia, Greece, and Spain. His
Epistle to the Romans was intrusted to a lady, named Phebe. That
to the Ephesians was sent to his disciple Theophilus. He was be-
iieaded. St. Andrew preached in Scythia. He too was stoned on a
cross ; St. Thomas and Bartholomew, in Parthia and India. St.
Matthew wrote a book of memorandums, of Christ's chief actions and
words, at the particular request of the Christians of Palestine. St.
Mark composed his at the request of those of Rome ; St. Luke for the
sole guidance of Theophilus, St. Paul's disciple. They all taught by
word of mouth. We do not find that they wrote down their creed.
They had no written document in common. The creed, the com-
mandments, and the words of baptism, of sacrifice, and other cere-
monials of the mass, they had, according to the custom of the time,

BY WHOM WKITTEN. 461

committed to iheir memory ; for, in those ages, the teachers and
lawgivers committed their lessons and laws to memory, and not gener-
ally to the scroll.

There were persons in every one of those countries, through which
the apostles passed, who disputed the Christian doctrine. With such
the apostles and their immediate disciples held discussions ; and, in the
absence of the apostles from the scenes of their labors, they were
applied to by their converts for explanations. They then wrote " Epis-
tles " or doctrinal letters, some of which we have included in the New
Testament. The Gospels and Epistles are not complete treatises on the
Christian religion ; they are merely detached fragments, written to meet
special objections, but not covering the whole ground of Christianity,
which was given by word, and not by scroll. There is found no
creed in any of the Gospels, no particular form of faith ; the form had
been establislied by word and by deed, at the council of Jerusalem, be-
fore the apostles separated. The religion of Jesus was formed without
books — • preached and spread without books : those apostles fixed their
doctrines in the minds of men, and not on perishable scrolls. Millions
of Christians, and thousands of priests and bishops, were converted and
ordained, before even those sacred writings were gathered together, out
of the different countries in which they were written, or from the hands
of those to whom they were addressed.

In short, the " Catholic church." comprehending the countless mil-
lions who embraced the doctrines of the cross prioi' to the fourth
century, together with their numerous learned teachers, who were edu-
cated men, — historians, mathematicians, astronomers, &c., — was formed
before the book called the New Testament was compiled.

We have no authority but the Catholic church for believing that all
these various books and epistles are the genuine emanations of those
holy apostles and their disciples. It was only after several spurious
writings were circulated — after several schismatical treatises had been
written and published, in the third and fourth centuries — that a council
of the fathers was held in Carthage, being the third general council of
the church, in which many of the chief bishops of the Christian world
were assembled, Pope Innocent presiding, to inspect those writings.

All the writings of the apostles and their immediate disciples, which
could be gathered any where, were submitted to the consideration of this
council. Learned men were appointed to translate them from the
Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldee, Phoenician, and other languages, into
Latin. There were very many of the writings deemed either unfit or

462 THE BIBLE WHO SHALL EXPLAIN IT?

unnecessary for retention in the Christian code. Amongst those re-
jected were the books written by St. Barnabas, one of the chosen
twelve of Christ. Four books only were selected as gospel or true
books, and two of these were written by Mark and Luke, who were not
of the twelve, but the immediate disciples of St. Peter and St. Paul.
Their books, however, had been confirmed by these latter apostles.

The Christian religion, then, was completely formed, preached, and
established, before these books were written, and centuries before they
were compiled. If I remain a Christian, I must be guided by the trans-
mitted authority, wheresoever it lies, of those who formed and established
that religion. If I receive Mark and Luke, why should I reject St.
Clement, St. Augustine, St. Basil, St. Chrysostom ? I prefer the Roman
Catholic church to all others, because the great body of the fathers
have adhered to the Roman see. I take their interpretation of these
Gospels because their predecessors wrote and compiled them, and
because they are the only evidence I have of their being at all
the writings of the apostles. If I cannot find my way by their as-
sistance, who will guide me? If I leave the Catholic church to
better my chances of salvation, to whom shall I go ? All of these sects
outside of her pale, differ from one another, condemn one another.

In this difficulty, I shall be desired to read my Bible, and judge for
myself. I have read my Bible, and I have judged for myself, and my
judgment tells me that it is a book far beyond my comprehension ; that,
though there be many things plain enough, yet, again, many things are
in it which require to be explained to me. To whom shall I go for this
explanation? These books, it appears, were originally written in the
Greek, Syriac, Chaldee, Phoenician, and Hebrew languages. There
are many of the terms used, and customs noted, and things done, which
cannot be understood, or reconciled to our senses, without we also study
ancient history, and the very languages in which our Lord himself and
the apostles spoke and wrote.

Who amongst us, without this knowledge, can interpret the Scrip-
tures? It will be objected that there have been eminently learned men,
who, having all these acquirements, have put an interpretation on the
Scriptures different from that of the church of Rome. So there have ;
but, again, these learned men have differed from each other ; have put —
to speak moderately — a hundred different constructions upon the New
Testament. On the other side, I find that the innumerable host of
learned men who have appeared within the Catholic pale, have adhered
to the one interpretation of the entire Scriptures, from the first council
to the present time.

THE BIBLE WHO SHALL EXPLAIN IT ? 4{)3

I find that many of* the interpretations put on the Scriptures by the sees
of the present day are not new ; that some of them were started foiutt'eii
or fifteen hundred years ago, and refuted by the church of that day ; ior
instance, Arius, a priest of Alexandria, preached against the divinity of
Christ in A. D. 315. A council of three hundred and eighteen Christian
bishops, held at Nice, in A. D. 319, condemned his opinions as heretical.
In 360, the usurper of the holy see at Constantinople preached against
the divinity of the third person in the trinity, the Holy Ghost, which
was considered by an assembly of one hundred and fifty bishops, in
a general council held in that city, in 381, in which the trinity was
fully maintained, and the denial proclaimed heresy. In 311, the pre-
rogative of " the church " was questioned by Donatius, but affirmed at
three separate councils, namely, Rome, 313, Aries, 314, Carthage, 411.
In 412, Pelagius, an English monk, preached at Rome, Carthage, and
through Palestine, against the existence of original sin, and the necessity
of God's grace to salvation. His doctrines were condemned in the
council of Carthage, 416, and that of Milevand, 418. In 429, Nesto-
rius preached against the unity of person in Jesus Christ. His doctrine
was condemned in the general council of Ephesus, 431, which consisted
of two hundred bishops. In 488, Eutyches, superior of a monastery in
Constantinople, preached against the distinction of two natures in Jesus
Christ — condemned by the general council of Chalcedon, 451, where
three hundred and sixty bishops assembled. In 726, the Greek emperor
Leo, like some of his successors, raised objections against the honors due
to holy images. The objections were considered and condemned in the
second general council of Nice, 787, where three hundred and seventy-
seven bishops assembled. It does not appear that the mass, the real

PRESENCE, TRANSUBSTANTIATION, AURICULAR CONFESSION, PENANCE,

the seven sacraments of baptism, confirmation, eucharist, penance, ex-
treme unction, holy orders, and matrimony, were called in question
by even the schismatics of those early ages, nor, except in the instance
of Arius, until the times of Luther and Calvin, in the sixteenth century.
How, then, can I refuse to yield my belief to their decrees — to the
doctrines of the Catholic church ? How can I be so absurd as to go out
amongst those who I am not sure are learned, or guided by a Christian
spirit ? But I have been told the Bible alone is enough, without any other
assistance, to guide me to salvation. If this be so, I must be the judge
of my own criminaUty, and I must acquit or condemn myself according
as my self-love, my passions, or my ignorance, shall prompt. I shall
make unto myself images of perfection in my own mind. By these I

464 THE BIBLE WHO SHALL EXPLAIN IT ^

will judge myself. Others, by the same rule, will form their separate
images of right and wrong, vice and virtue. Each will form a code of
laws of his own, and act on it. If each man will interpret those difficult
Scriptures, is it likely that any two men will agree in understanding them
alike ? Have they ever done so yet 1 People may say, " If you pray to
God, he will enlighten you with grace to enable you to understand every
difficult passage." Only that this is said by many sincere persons, I
would call it cant. To define it mildly, I must pronounce it delusion.

The Scriptures sometimes speak literally, and sometimes figuratively,
of the Deity and his attributes — of angels — and in a mysterious style
of prophecy. Then the peculiar idioms of the old languages, the para-
bles, figures of allegory and hyperbole in which the divine will was
symboled, frequently puzzle, and make us wish for a clearer under-
standing, and desire aid to explain them. When we confront one text of
the Scriptures with another, how puzzled we feel by their apparent
contradiction of each other! and we cannot select the plainest and
reject the rest. Either the whole Scriptures are necessary to be un-
derstood, or they are not. If a part only, then loho is to decide on the
part which we may put aside? or if we must, and cannot, understand
all, then who is to explain to us that portion which is obscure? If each
man's own sense is enough to direct him, then he may select passages
favorable to his own personal addictions, whether of war, conquest, lust,
murder, &c. ; for texts are to be found to answer any of these purposes,
in the Scriptures.

It is hard to understand the Scriptures. St. Augustine, in the fourth
century, said, "There are more things in Scripture which I am ignorant
of than those that I know;" and the Protestant Doctor Balguy said, in
the last century, " Open your Bibles, take the first page that appears,
in either Testament, and tell me, without disguise, is there nothing in it
too hard for your understandings ? If you find all before you clear and
easy, you may thank God for giving you a privilege which he has de-
nied to many thousands of sincere believers." — Balguy^s Discourse,
p. 133.

The sense of a text in Scripture may depend upon the choice of a
single word in the translation, or its position in the sentence or sentences
of which the text is formed, and even upon the punctuation. The denial
of the divinity of Christ itself has been partly sustained by the division
of one scriptural sentence into two, which was done by substituting a
period for a comma, without changing a single letter of the original ; for
example, " Surrexit nan. Est hie ; " whereas the correct and true

WHERE IS THE TRUE VERSION? INDIVIDUAL JUDGMENT. 465

reading and punctuation are, " Surrexit, non est hie" '•' He is risen, he
is not here."

If I am to judge for myself, independent of the CathoHc church,
I must be able to compare my English translations of the Bible with the
original Latin version, which is in possession of that church alone, and
then 1 must take that on their authority as a correct translation from the
Greek and Hebrew texts of the inspired writers, some of which are lost.

The text of Moses and the ancient prophets was destroyed with the
temple and city of Jerusalem ; and, though they were replaced by au-
thentic copies, at the end of the Babylonish captivity, by the prophet
Ezra, yet those also perished in the persecution of Antiochus, from
which time we have no evidence of the genuineness of the Old Testa-
ment until it was supplied by Christ and his apostles. King Henry the
Eighth condemned Tyndal's Translation of the Bible, as crafty, false,
and untrue. The Bibles first published by Queen Elizabeth's bishops
were found so incorrect by the bishops of James the First, that a
new translation was deemed necessary, which, when made, produced
a great deal of discussion between the learned Protestants of the
day.

Which of all these translations shall I consult ? and, then, if every man
expounds the Scriptures for himself, what necessity is there for any cler-
gymen ? or any church ? or any attendance at church ? and, to pursue
this idea, we shall soon find every man set up in his own mind an image
of God, or an idol for his own private worship. He will also be dis-
posed to form laws for his government in civil society out of his own
head, and according to his own standard or image of justice. Is this
right? The illustrious Fenelon has said, "It is better to live without
any law than to have laws which all men are left to interpret according
to their several opinions and interests."

Is this right? I repeat. Am I safe in my own keeping, and under
my own exclusive judgment ? Shall I reject all advice ? Shall I con-
sult no one, except some person equally weak, or ignorant, or wicked,
with myself? I cannot bear to think of it. There must be some one
left on earth to guide me besides the careless printer, whose production,
called a Bible, is now before me.

These are some of the grounds for my adhesion to the Catholic

church. I cannot say that I am enlightened, for I live in the midst of

darkness, and grow more and more convinced, every day, of my own

ignorance. The only object in the misty atmosphere around, which ap-

466 CLERICAL INTERFERENCE IN CIVIL A.FFAIRS.

pears to my weak vision most distinct, is the connection of the existing
Catholic church with the first Christians and the Redeemer himself."

While I thus give vent to my opinions on the doctrines of the Cath-
olic faith, I am bound by the immutable laws of history to state that in
Ireland, as well as on the European continent, many of the bishops and
abbots, officiating as the ministers of that faith, imbued their sacred
hands in the strife of battles, and absolutely commanded their legions in
the tented field. There is, of course, nothing more foreign to the idea
of the duties of a prelate, entertained by the Christian of the present
day, than the command of warlike legions on the field of slaughter.

While I have no notion of attempting to defend this mixture of the
warrior with the priest, I may, however, be permitted to account for it.
The higher orders of the clerg)», for many centuries after the general
introduction of Christianity throughout Europe, were almost the sole
managers of every thing. They performed all the offices of religion ;
administered the higher duties of the courts of jurisprudence ; were
chancellors and judges, legislators, lawgivers, historians, architects,
mechanics, painters, poets, — premiers and counsellors of kings, diplo-
matists, ambassadors, secretaries of state: — above all, they were every
where, through every country, the only teachers of youth, the chief
possessors of knowledge, the sole writers of books.

Tliese relations with society, it must be owned, were calculated to
give them an immeasurable ascendency. Nor did this state of things
spring up all at once. It gradually grew from the labor, study, learn-
ing, and utility, of the great body of the monks and clergy, and, indeed,
from the wants of society itself. They performed all these important
offices for nations, because there was none other found so well fitted by
varied acquirements for the trust. Princes, when young, were sent to
pious and learned ecclesiastics to receive education. When at maturity,
and they came to their hereditary seats of power, they frequently
induced their learned and beloved preceptors to accompany them, to
remain round their persons, to advise them in all matters of state, to
accompany them in their journeys, and counsel them in their wars.

The ABBOTS, who were, by election for life, presidents of their com-
monwealths, in the monasteries, became, in the course of a few
centuries, a most important power in the state. It has been said that
those abbots were under the influence of the popes, and, by their direc-
tions, meddled largely in civil affairs. It was not generally so. The
ABBOTS were independent and irresponsible governors of their own little
kingdoms, in and about their monasteries ; a few of them only were
under what is railed " priests' orders," and thence amenable to the holy

THE MONKS. ABBOTS. 467

see. The great majority were lay chiefs, of religious and learned cor-
porations, governed only by their own laws, owing obedience to the
chief houses of their own order. In the progress of time, many of these
important trusts were forcibly and factiously seized by laymen, who
assumed the barren title of deacon or archdeacon, which was then the
name of a mere tyro in the ecclesiastical grades. Both the lay and
ecclesiastical abbots exercised, through extensive ramifications, a very
considerable influence over the Christian communities.

These monasteries became wealthy, from various sources. The monks,
by their great industry, improved the lands granted to them by the
princes and great ones, to perhaps a thousand times their original value.
Wherever they settled, upon wastes or in forests, they devoted their
labor and knowledge, after the worship of God, to agriculture, architec-
ture, and literature. Towns and cities grew up around their monasteries ;
their lands, therefore, became miraculously enhanced in value. Their
proprietary and ownership never died, nor were transferred. The little
commonwealth was continued by new disciples, and newly-elected gov-
ernors, from generation to generation. Their surplus lands were let, at
easy rents, to an affectionate tenantry, whose children received a free
education from their pious landlords. Between the people and these
monks the most friendly relations existed. The poor and the sick
were all taken care of by those pious men, and they were, we may welt
suppose, exceedingly popular.

The abbots, or presidents, of those corporate colleges, were, therefore,
a very important class of men. In addition to the foregoing sources of
their power, they were usually made trustees or guardians to young
heirs of noble blood and great possessions, and they were not unfre-
quently related by blood themselves to the highest-born of the land.
Occasions arose when some of them were called from the cloister to the
throne, as heirs by blood to the dignity.

For several centuries, the European Christians were kept in con-
tinued wars, defending themselves from the Mahometans on the one
side, and the northern marauders, called Danes, on the other.

Thousands upon thousands of the ecclesiastics of Europe, and par-
ticulariy of Ireland, were butchered unresistingly, withifi their sacred
habitations. It was not unnatural in men, attacked in their castles by
those land pirates, to defend themselves as best they could. All these
circumstances conspired to form that apparently incongruous character,
the militant priest.

The vicissitudes of the clergy, in various parts of Europe, and the very

468 THE pope's connection with civil affairs.

existence of the Christians, rendered it necessary for the popes to
meddle largely in the civil affairs of kings. Indeed, it was impossible
for them to be passive spectators of the butcheries of their clergy and
spiritual flocks, by the Mahometans in the south, and the Danes in
the west, of Europe. They therefore leagued with princes for protec-
tion ; and princes, in turn, sought their assistance, in establishing their
own authority amongst their subjects.

The popes, too, were frequently appointed, by contending petty
princes, as the arbitrators of their disputes. This grew to a common
practice ; and at last the great monarchs of Europe endeavored anxious-
ly, one against the other, to secure the interest of the see of Rome, as a
protection ; and it is admitted by the great writers of the present centu-
ry, (see Edinburgh Review, No. 52,) that the temporal power obtained
by the church, in the middle ages, conduced, by the check which it
opposed to the encroachments of kings, to advance considerably the
cause of civil and political liberty.

In the mean time, the Christian church spread its branches through
unnumbered dominions. Its influence progressed with its principles,
and it became, at last, a far more potent power on earth than the might-
iest of the nations recorded on the page of time.

Although the popes have, for centuries past, ceased to interfere in the
afiairs of kings, their spiritual and moral influence, over nearly two
hundred millions of Catholics, spread throughout the world, is as para-
mount as it ever was. But the Catholics every where perfectly
understand the distinction between the spiritual obedience they
owe the holy father, in matters of faith and Christian discipline, and
the civil obedience they owe the king or chief magistrate under whom
they live.

A very remarkable illustration of my argument has come to my hand
since these remarks were penned ; it is part of a debate in the Dublin
Repeal Association, on the third of July, 1844. It appears that the British
ministry, with all their affected contempt for the " power of the pope,"
have not disdained to importune the holy fither to put forward in Ire-
land his moral power in their behalf. They contrived to get the
Austrian minister. Prince Metternich, to second their designs at Rome ;
and an attempt was actually made to wheedle the pope into the issuing
of a bull to the Irish Catholic clergy, which should command them to
discountenance the repeal agitation.

His holiness has not issued any such rescript, and has so intimated to
all the parties interested. Upon this important point, that faithful son

DEBATE ON THE POINT IN THE REPEAL ASSOCIATION. 469

of Ireland, Henry Grattan, made the following observations in the
Repeal Association : —

" He (Mr. Grattan) would request, for the next day of meeting, the presence of his
Protestant and Orange friends, in order to unfold to them some intelligence from
Rome of a surprising character. He had lately been in the Eternal City, and had
mingled in the society of the pope, and his cardinals and prelates, and he thought his
duty to the Irish people, and especially to the Protestant portion of them, required
him to disclose a shameful conspiracy which he had detected there, being a machina-
tion, on the part of individuals high in power in England, to induce his holiness to
prohibit by his mandate the agitation of repeal. ('Hear! hear!') He would detail
the particulars, if he lived, on the next day of meeting ! (' Hear ! ' and loud cheers.) "

Mr. Grattan's authority is unquestionable on the fact he asserts, and
his opportunities of accurate information are, for many reasons, more
than those of ordinary persons. In alluding to the topic, Mr. O'Neil
Daunt, a practical and theologically informed Catholic, said : —

" He begged to express his satisfaction that his honorable friend had stated the fact
that influential persons in England had used means to induce the pope to condemn
the Repeal agitation. (' Hear ! hear ! ') He spoke of the course with the deepest respect
for his holiness, but he would just ask them this : Supposing that the pope were to
enjoin them to desist from their struggle for repeal, was there one solitary Catholic in
Ireland who would o'bey him ? (Cries of ' No, not one ! ' and vehement cheering.) "Not
they, indeed. They knew too well the just limits of the spiritual jurisdiction of the
pontiff, which he (Mr. Daunt) was quite certain his holiness never would exceed.
The ministry might spare themselves the fruitless labor of negotiating with Rome
upon a point respecting which, whatever Rome might promise, the Irish people
could never be turned aside from their course. (Cheers.) "

Now, recollect by whom these observations, totally disavowing the
temporal authority of the pope, were uttered ; to what assembly they
were addressed, and how received by the multitude. The sentiment
was uttered by a strict Catholic, Mr. O'Neil Daunt ; it was addressed to
an assembly which was, and which the speaker knew was, mostly com-
posed of Catholics ; and by that meeting, so constituted, the sentiment
was received whh unanimous shouts of assent and approbation. There
was no preconcert here ; the thing was momentary. The ebuUition was
natural, distinct, and powerful, — worth a thousand treatises on " the
temporal and spiritual power of the pope."

Returning to the state of religion, in the tenth and eleventh centuries,
in Ireland, we are pained to find that struggles for the primacy of
Armagh extended to irreverent lengths. The power of " primate of
ALL Ireland" was originally conferred on St. Patrick, by the holy see;
which power descended, in episcopal succession, to the occupant of the
primatical chair of Armagh. This see was therefore the object at

470 TITHES.

which the ambitious spirits of Ireland aimed. The power of the
chair of Armagh radiated, as from the centre of autliority,on all the
affairs of Ireland, whether civil or ecclesiastical. The families of
royal blood, who contended in the field with each other for supreme
sway, courted this power, and intrigued for its alliance. This begot a
series of struggles in the election of the primate, which produced broils
of a most irreverent character ; and it is recorded that one noble family,
by its members, kept possession of the see for nearly two hundred years,
and wen! so far as to force lay members into the sanctified chair of
Patrick, who seized upon the rich revenues and possessions of the see,
and appointed a bishop as " suffragan," to perform the clerical duties.

On the subject of church dues, Moore says, concerning this period,
" There occurs more than once, in the records of this century, some
mention of a law relating to ecclesiastical property, which, as much im-
portance appears to have been attached to it. requires some passing
notice. It would appear that the revenue arising from those dues,
which had, ever since the time of St. Patrick, been paid to the church
of Armagh, was, amidst the convulsions of this period, interrupted or
withheld ; and, in the year 824, we find the authority of the warlike
Feidhlim, king of Munster, interposed in aid of Artrigius, archbishop
of Armagh, for the collection of this tax. A law had been established,
indeed, about the year 731, by the king of all Ireland and the king of
Munster, in concert, to regulate the payment of the revenue of the pri-
matial see ; and it is manifestly this regulation we read of in the annals
of the ninth century, as enforced under the name of the ' law of St.
Patrick.' "

It does not appear that tithes were paid or demanded in Ireland till
about the twelfth century, and in conformity to the decisions of the
solemn chief synods, held under the direction of a legate from the holy
see. Previous to this, the payments to the support of the church seemed
to have been irregular. The institution of tithes, or tenths, was for
the purpose of securing uniformity in the Christian contributions to the
church. In other parts of Europe, they were earlier established.

" Notwithstanding all these things," says Moore, [ivho is severer on the
Irish clergy mul chieftains of this age than any foreign writer,^ " that
there must still have been preserved among the people of this country
— a people once so conspicuous throughout Europe for their piety — a
strong and pervading religious feeling, however imbued with the general
darkness of the times, and allowed to run wild for the want of culture
and discipline, is sufficiently apparent on the very face of our native

DISCIPLINE AND ORDER RESTORED. LITERATURE AT THIS PERIOD. 471

annals, even in this dim and agitated period. The number of pious,
and, according to the standard of their age, learned ecclesiastics, who
are recorded, in the annals of the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries,
as passing their whole lives in works of devotion and charity among the
ruins of once flourishing monasteries, could not but cherish, in the popu-
lar mind, a fond remembrance of the early saints of the land, and keep
alive, like the spark beneath the embers, some remains of the faith of
better days."

It was not till the twelfth century that a reformation was effected in
the ecclesiastical affairs of Ireland, — when, by the authority of the pope,
hacked by the deliberations and decisions of several synods of the Irish
clergy, creating thus a strong public opinion, the lay intruders \yere re-
moved from their ill-gotten powers, and the church was suffered to
return to that austere discipline for which it was famed in the ages pre-
vious to the Danish invasions.

Drs. Lannigan, Carew, and Gahan, give copious details of the several
synods of these times, and the ecclesiastical measures instituted to restore
Christian observance and uniformity to the Irish church. Having de-
voted already so much remark and space to the affairs of religion, I fear
to risk a further intrusion of the same matter on the reader, who is
referred for full details to those elaborate and faithful chroniclers of Irish
church history above mentioned ; and I shall now proceed to the next
great feature of the age, its

LITERATURE.

After the two hundred and forty years of war which Ireland had just
then passed through ; after the sacking and burning of the colleges,
monasteries, and libraries, during the Danish persecutions ; after more
than two centuries of slaughter of all ages and degrees, — it cannot be
expected that her literature could be any thing like what it had been
from the fifth to the ninth century.

After the battle of Clontarf, and the total prostration of Danish power
in Ireland, the members of the learned professions came forth from their
hiding-places and retreats. An endeavor was made to restore the libra-
ries ; but, alas ! it was a vain attempt. The majority of the books were
destroyed ; and Ireland, which had been once so rich in the possessions
of those countless tomes of genius, so celebrated throughout Europe, —
from the superabundance of which, the Benedictine monks on the Conti-
nent acknowledge t» have frequently received copious supplies, — was
now destitute of many records of her own history, and forced to seek

472 LITERATURE OF THE ELEVENTH CENTURY".

among the archives of foreign seminaries, the attested memorials of her
past greatness. Only two or three of her numerous colleges escaped
total destruction.

Her learned men now rallied on the scanty stock of manuscripts left
them, and during the eleventh and beginning of the twelfth centuries, —
say for a period of one hundred and seventy years, — applied themselves
with so much industry to the work of restoration, that Ireland reassumed
her scholastic station amid the nations, — again put forth her literary
blossoms, and filled Europe anew with the aroma of her knowledge.
I find so good a paper on this head in Moore, that I transcribe it en-
tire, rather than write any thing of the same kind myself.

" The night of ignorance and barbarism, which had been so long
gathering around the western world, is supposed, in the century we are
now considering, [the tenth,] to have reached its utmost gloom. How
far this comparative view is well founded may be a matter of question ;
but of the positive prevalence of darkness throughout this age there can
exist no doubt. It i? not, therefore, wonderful that even Ireland, which
had hitherto stood as a beacon of learning in the west, should begin to
share in the general obscuration of the times, and, being acted upon by
the same causes which had already uncivilized some of the fairest
regions of Europe, should feel the fated tide of barbarism gaining fast
upon her shores. The exceeding rapidity with which the chief schools
and monasteries throughout the country, though so frequently ravaged
and burnt by the Northmen, again arose from their ashes, and resounded
afresh with the voice of instruction and prayer, seems hardly less than
marvellous. Nor was this intrepid and persevering enthusiasm, in the
cause of learning and holiness, confined to the natives of the country
alone, but inspired also its visitors; as, but a few months after a des-
perate inroad of the Danish spoilers into Armagh, we are told of a
youth of a royal house of the Albanian Scots, named Cadroe, repairing
to the schools of that university for the completion of his education.

" Among the obituary notices scattered throughout the annals of this
age, there occur the names of several divines who are described as
learned and eminent, but of whom no further mention is to be found.
Towards the middle of the century flourished Probus, or, as his Irish
name, of the same import, is said to have been, Coenachair, whose Life
of St. Patrick, still extant, is praised by a high authority on the subject
of our ecclesiastical history, as ' a very valuable work.' That Probus
was an Irishman, he has himself placed beyond doubt by several expres-
sions which occur in his pages. Thus, when speaking of the saint

LITERATURE OF THE ELEVENTH CENTURY. 473

embarking from Britaing for Ireland, he says, that ' he entered upon our
sea ; and the harbor first reached by the missionary, whom he styles
* our most holy father,' is represented by him as ' one much celebrated
among m.' Probus was chief lecturer of the school of Slane, and fell
a victim there, as already has been related, during an attack upon the
church of that place by the Danes.

" In the year 975, according to the annalist Tigernach, took place the
death of Keneth O'Artegan, ' chief of the learned of Leath Cuinn.' A
poem of this writer is still preserved, descriptive of the beauty of the
celebrated hill of Tara, and moralizing mournfully over its history ; nor
should those who visit, in our days, that seat of long-extinguished royal-
ty, feel any wonder on not discovering there some vestige of its grandeur,
when told that, even in the time of this poet, not a trace of the original
palace still remained ; while the hill itself had become a desert, over-
grown with grass and weeds.

" As thus, in the midst of the general darkness of the age, there were
still preserved in Ireland some relics of the lore of better days, so, in
the schools and religious establishments of the Continent, her sons still
continued to retain all their former superiority, and, among the dwarf
intellects of that time, towered as giants. In England, since the time
of her great Alfred, both sacred and literary knowledge had sunk to so
low an ebb, that at length no priest could be found capable of writing
or translating a Latin letter. ' Very few churchmen were there,' says
Alfred, 'on this side the Humber, who could understand their daily
pi-ayers in English, or translate any letter from the Latin. I think there
were not many beyond the Humber ; they were so few, that I, indeed,
cannot recollect one single instance on the south of the Thames when I
took the kingdom.' — See Turner, Hist. Anglo-Sax. book v. chap, i,
' A few years before the Norman conquest,' says Mr. Berington, on the
authority of William of Malmesbury, ' the clergy could hardly stammer
through the necessary service of the church, and he who knew the rules
of grammar was viewed as a prodigy.' The Irish were, in this century,
the means of restoring some taste for liberal studies. With that devotion
to the cause of religion and instruction which had become, in this people,
(as an author of those times expresses it,) a second nature, a number of
Irishmen, described as conversant with every department of knowledc^e,
secular as well as sacred, retired, some time before the year 940, to
Glastonbury. This monastery had already been long distinguished as a
favorite retreat of their countrymen ; and, within its walls, so great was
the reverence felt for their patron saint; says Usher, ' that, from an early
60

474 LITERATURE OF THE ELEVENTH CENTURY.

period, the establishment had been called ' Glastonbury of St. Patrick.'
From the Irish who fixed themselves there in this century, the Abbe St.
Dunstan chiefly received his education ; and while he imbibed, as we
are told, under their discipline, the very marroW of scriptural learning,
they also instructed him in the sciences of arithmetic, geometry, and
astronomy, in all of which they were, it is intimated, more deeply skilled
than in the refined niceties of classical literature. With a taste, too,
highly characteristic of their country, they succeeded in awakening in
their pupil so strong a love and talent for music, that it was in after life
his frequent practice, when worn with business or study, to fly for re-
freshment to the soothing sounds of the harp.

" On the continent of Europe, in like manner, the fame of the Island
of Saints continued to be upheld by the learning and piety of her sons ;
and in the course of this century, there flourished in France, as well as
in Germany and the Netherlands, a number of eminent Irishmen, whose
names belong not so much to the country which gave them birth, as to
those which they benefited by the example and labors of their lives.
Among the prelates present at a synod, held in the year 947, at
Verdun, was an Irish bishop named Israel, whose character and accom-
plishments must have been of no ordinary stamp, as he had been one
of the instructors of the great and learned Archbishop Bruno, the brother
of the Emperor Otho.

" An Irish abbot of considerable celebrity, named Fingan, who had
been honored with the notice and patronage of the dowager empress
Adelhard, the zealous relict of Otho the Great, was, through her inter-
est, invested with the government of the abbey of Symphorian, at Metz,
on the singular condition that he and his successors should receive no
other than Irish monks into their establishment, as long as any such
could be found ; but, in case of a deficiency of monks from Ireland,
should then be allowed to admit those of other nations. See the deed
in Colgan, Acta Sanctorum.

" Another of these ' monasteries of the Scots,' as they were to a late
period called, had been established about this time on an island in the
Rhine, near Cologne, having for its first abbot an Irishman named Mim-
borin ; and it is clearly to this establishment at Cologne that such
frequent reference is made in the Annals of the Four Masters, and
others.

" Of the attention early paid to the study of Greek in the native
schools of the Irish, some notice has already been taken ; and a proof
of their contmued attention to the cultivation of that language is to be

LITERATURE OF THE ELEVENTH CENTURY. 475

•found in the interesting fact, that, in the diocese of St. Gerard, at Toul,
where there had assembled at this time a number of Greek refugees, as
well as of Irish, the church service, in which both nations joined,
was performed in the language of the Greeks, and according to the
Greek rite.

" One of the few of our learned countrymen at this period, who have
left behind them any literary remains, was an Irish bishop named
Duncan, or Duncant, who taught in the monastery of St. Remigius, at
Rheims, and wrote for the use of the students under his care a Com-
mentary on the Nine Books of Martianus Capella, — an author whose
claims to attention, such as they are, concern the musician rather than
the scholar, — and also, Observations on the First Book of Pomponius
Mela, De Situ Terrae ; both of which writings are still extant ; and the
former is in the British Museum.

" With respect to those Irish bishops we frequently read of, as con-
nected with foreign religious establishments, and passing their whole
lives abroad, it is right to explain, that there existed at this time a
custom in Ireland of raising pious and exemplary monks to episcopal
rank, without giving them any fixed sees. In' addition to these there
was also, as in the primitive times of the church, an order of Chorepis-
copi, or country bishops, to whom the care of the rural districts was
intrusted, with powers subordinate to those of the regular bishop in
whose diocese they were situated. From these two classes of ministers
were furnishedj doubtless, the great majority of those Episcopi Vagantes,
or ' vague bishops,' as they are called, of whom such numbers, princi-
pally Irish, were found on the Continent in the middle ages ; and whose
assumed power of ordaining came at length to be so much abused, that,
at more than one council, an effort was made to abate the custom by
declaring all such ordinations to be null and void. Notwithstanding,
however, such occasional laxity of discipline, it is admitted by one of
the most liberal as well as most learned of theologians, that the bishops
of this description from Ireland were of great service, as well to the
Gallican as the Germanic church.

" Of that class of humble but useful writers, the annalists, who merely
narrate, says Cicero, without adorning the course of public affairs, Ire-
land produced, in this century, two of the most eminent, perhaps, in all
Europe — Marianus Scotus and Tigernach. The latter of these writers,
whose valuable annals have been so frequently referred to in these
pages, is said to have been of the sept called the Muireadhaigh, or
Murrays, in Connaught, and was abbot of Clonmacnois. His Annals,

476 LITERATURE OF THE ELEVENTH CENTURY.

which were brought down by him to the year of his death, 1088, are
scarcely more valuable for the materials of history which their own
pages furnish, than for the proofs they afford of still earlier records
existing when they were written — records which, as appear from the
dates of eclipses preserved by this chronicler, and which could not
otherwise than by written memorials have reached him so accinately,
must have extended as far back as the period when Christianity be-*
came the religion of the country.

" Another service conferred on the cause of Irish antiquities by this
work, independently of its own intrinsic utility, arises from the number
of metrical fragments we find scattered throughout its pages, cited from
writings still more ancient, which were then evidently existing, though
at present no other vestige of them remains. That Tigernach had
access to some library or libraries, furnished with books of every descrip-
tion, is manifest from his numerous references ; and the correctness of
his citations from foreign authors, with whose works we are acquainted,
may be taken as a surety for the genuineness of his extracts from the
writings of our own native authors, now lost ; thus affording an an-
swer to those skeptical objectors, who, because there are ^tant so few
Irish manuscripts of an earlier date than about the eleventh or tenth
century, contend that our pretensions to a vernacular literature, in the
centuries preceding that period, must be mere imposture or self-delusion.

" Marianus Scotus, the contemporary of Tigernach, and, as some
suppose, a monk in the very monastery over which he presided, stands,
as a chronographer, among the highest of his times. He wrote also
Notes on the Epistles of St. Paul, a copy of which, transcribed by
himself. Is still extant in the imperial library of Vienna.

" It appears that by Marianus, as well as by his countryman Tiger-
nach, who had never been out of Ireland, the error of the Dionyslan
cycle was clearly perceived ; and to the former is even attributed the
credit of having endeavored, however unsuccessfully, to correct It.

" Besides Marianus, there appeared, in this century, several other dis-
tinguished Irishmen on the Continent ; among the foremost of whom
may be mentioned St. Colman, whom Austria placed on the list of her
patrons, and whose praise was celebrated In an ode by Stabius, the his-
toriographer of the emperor Maximilian.

" Some curious historical poems by Flann and Gilla-Coeman, two
metrical chronographers of this century, have furnished a subject for
much learned comment to the pen of the reverend editor of the Irish
Chronicles ; who, in proof of the accuracy of Gilla-Coeman's chrono-

KING CORMAC.

477

logical computations, has shown that all the dates assigned by him to
the great events of Scripture history coincide, to a wonderful degree,
with those laid down by no less authorities than Scaliger, Petavius, and
Sir Isaac Newton.

" Though somewhat anticipating, in point of time, it may save trouble
to state, while touching on the subject, that the chronological list of the
Irish kings, which had by Coeman been brought down to the lime of St.
Patrick, was, by another metrical chronographer, Gilla Moduda, who
flourished about the middle of the twelfth century, continued to the death
of Malachy the Second, in a poem consisting of a number of ranns, or
strophes, much in the manner of the metrical list of the Dalriadic kings,
composed in Scotland, in the reign of Malcolm the Third.

" While thus not a few of the natives themselves continued to culti-
vate, even in those stormy times, most of the studies for which their
country was once so famous, neither does it appear that the attractions
and advantages, by which foreign students were forraeriy drawn to their
schools, had altogether at this dark period ceased. An instance to the
contrary, indeed, is afforded in the case of Sulgenus, afterwards bishop
of St. David's, who, 'moved by the love,' as we are told, 'of study, set
out, in imitation of his ancestors, to visit the land of the Irish, so won-
derfully celebrated for learning.' Having been driven back by a storm
to his own country, it was not till after a long lapse of time that he
again ventured on the voyage, when, reaching the country of the Scots
in safety, he remained there tranquilly for more than ten years, studying
constantly the Holy Scriptures, and storing his mind with the spiritual
wealth which they contained. Such is the account given, in a poem
written on the studious labors of Bishop Sulgenus in the schools of
Ireland at this period ; and Usher cites the poem as a proof that the
study of letters had at this lime revived in the country, and that
Ireland, even in the eleventh century, was still ' a storehouse of the
most learned and holy men.' ' Revixisse tamen bonarum literarum stu-
dia, et seculo adhuc undecimo habilam fuisse Hiberniam (ut in Vita
Florentii loquitur Franciscus Guillimannus) virorum sanctissimorum doc-
tissimorumque officinamJ Another conclusion which Usher -draws from
this poem is, that the name of Scots was still, in the eleventh century,
applied, xar f^ox^iv, to the Irish." After this period, the name of Ire-
land, (after Ir, who came with the Milesians,) began to be generally
applied to the island, while that of Scotia was more distinctly given to
Caledonia.

I have purposely postponed a notice of Cormac M' CulKnane, bishop

478 KING CORMAC.

of Cashell and king of Munster. to allow Moore's observations on the
literature of those times, which I am obliged to abridge, to go to the
reader uninterrupted. Moore does not, in my opinion, treat the bishop-
king of Munster fairly, and I therefore compile my account of him from
other sources.

This extraordinary man, who has left behind him the best memorials
of his science, taste, and knowledge, which any Irishman of remote ages
had been fortunate enough to bequeath entire, was bishop of Cashell in
the close of the ninth century. He wrote, amongst other works, the
entire history of Ireland, from the earliest period to his own times, in a
magnificent epic in blank verse. Having access to, he consulted the
most authentic and learned works of his day. His church and his resi-
dence were comparatively safe from the Danish atrocities, for they were
built on the " Rock of Cashell," a high, craggy, and, in those times,
inaccessible fortress. His great work, together with that of Tigernach,
and a few others, are the principal and the fullest manuscript histories
of ancient Ireland that remain.

But it is not alone as an elegant historian, that this brilliant scholar
shines, like a star of the first magnitude, from the dim, distant horizon of
the past. He was, besides, a scientific and accomplished archhect,
devoting the revenues of his see, while yet a bishop, to works of taste
and art. He erected on the Rock of Cashell that splendid specimen
of pure Irish architecture, which has borne his name to us for a thousand
years, and which attests at this day, by its admirable proportions, its
scientific construction, and its tasteful richness, the science and skill of
the classic architect, and the wonderful degree of perfection to which
(he art had, in his time, arrived in Ireland. It is admitted that " Cor-
inac's Chapel " is the purest specimen of that style of architecture, erro-
neously called Gothic, that can be found in Europe, of so eiarly a date
as the ninth century.

In the neighboring pages I shall devote some remarks specially to the
subject of Irish architecture, to which I refer the reader for this branch
of Cormac's performances. The wars of Cormac, all unecclesiastical
as they were, seem to have been forced upon him by two conspiring
circumstances, — first, the refusal of the Leganians (Leinster men) to
pay some tribute or subsidy demanded by the crown of Munsfer, and
second, the fiery impetuosity of Flaherty, the abbot of Iniscathy, who
may have been a layman, with feelings of high family resentments un-
subdued. It is evident, from all the circumstances of those unhappy
wars, that the untamable spirit of Flaherty was the direct cause of this

WARS OF KING CORMAC. 479

great man's troubles and sudden death, as we may gather from the
history of the last of his battles.

A few days before the fatal battle of Magh Abhe, the bishop-king,
according to the custom of the times, made his will, which, with much
self-possession, he wrote in verse. To various ecclesiastics he be-
queathed more or less of his personal effects, rare books, &;c. ; and
then he singled out, from the young nobility of Munster, Lorcan, — the
four and fortieth in descent from the great Olioll OUwn, — a layman,
to whom he committed, in case of his fall in the approaching battle, the
civil or kingly affairs of Munster. This is a circumstance of great
weight, in proving to us that the good man himself felt the impropriety
of one of his dignities, which appears to have been thrust upon him to
silence contending claimants for the Munster crown, and to preserve the
peace of the province.

When all these things were completely arranged, the army of
Munster marched to the frontier plains of Leinster, to enforce their king's
demands. The abbot of Iniscathy, clothed in steel as a field marshal,
rode through and encouraged the troops ; and Cormac, laying aside his
sacerdotal robe, clad himself superbly in a similar costume, and waved
his truncheon of command over his brilliant legions. Arrived at the
confines, they found the king of Leinster with a numerous array ready
to contest the claim. The " herald of Munster " was sent to the
opposite army to demand tribute or declare war. During his absence,
the warlike Abbot Flaherty gallopped through the ranks, animating the
troops for the coming struggle. His horse, affrighted by the glitter of
spears, plunged, and flung the gallant marshal to the earth, depriving
him nearly of life. This was deemed a most unpropitious omen by the
troops: many of them, panic-stricken, fled from the field. The herald,
having returned from the camp of the king of Leinster, brought prop-
ositions for peace, or at least for a suspension of hostilities until the
harvest, then ready for the sickle, should be saved. This proposal was
accompanied by many presents to the Munster chiefs, not the smallest
of which was sent to the militant abbot.

This proposal seemed so reasonable, that King Cormac, who was
from the beginning averse to the war, declared his readiness to accept
it. At the council-board, however, the insatiable abbot of Iniscathy
rose up in an indignant passion, charging the king with cowardice, even
in presence of the Leinster herald. The harangue delivered by the
abbot to the chiefs had the -efFect of causing them to decline the terms
of peace. The king, mortified deeply by this unseemly conduct, retired

480 DEATH OF KING CORMAC.

to his tent, humbled himself m prayer, and resigned himself to a
seemingly uncontrollable fate. Having sent for his confessor, he added
a codicil to his will, in case he fell, of which he had a lively presenti-
ment, directing his body to be laid beneath the altar of his own ca-
thedral.

The leaders of either army now drew up their troops in the order of
battle. Fresh reenforcemeuts arrived to the ranks of the Leinster men,
sent by Flan, the then chief monarch of Ireland. By mutual consent,
both armies moved to the plains of Magh Albhe, which, I believe, is
in the Queen's county.

The Leinster army, with its allies, appeared to be five to one over
those of Cormac. " Defeat " was written on his commander's brows ;
yet the militant abbot of Iniscathy scorned all proposals for compromise.
At the first charge, the Munster men fell back, and were thrown into dis-
order : one of the chiefs, at this instant, ordered his men to fly from the
ranks of the abbot, and let him fight it out. The battle was soon ter-
minated. Great numbers of the flying Munster men were killed, and
the author of all this mischief was taken prisoner by .his triumphant
foes. Cormac showed himself in the thickest of the fight, and thus
confronted the insinuation of cowardice made by Iniscathy. The
accounts tell us, he fell and broke his neck in the battle ; and, though
some of his infuriate enemies cut off his head, and carried it to the
victor prince, that high-minded man reproved them with tears in his
eyes, and, like Caesar, on viewing the head of Pompey, kissed the
clotted hps of his fallen but illustrious opponent.

The remains of the bishop-king were buried, according to his request,
under the altar of his magnificent cathedral of Cashell. The following
lines from his will are characteristic of the scholar, the divine, the
architect, and the king : —

^' My PSALTER which preserves the earliest records
And monuments of this my native country,
Which are transcribed tviih great fidelity,
I leave to Ronal Cashell, to he preserved
To after times and ages yet to come."

[He has also left a glossary of the Irish language, which is much
esteemed by scholars.]

Catholic writers have condemned in the person of, Cormac the
mixture of the monarch and the divine. A man who could have
shone in the utmost splendor, in ^either character, has been disparaged

PSALTER OF CASHELL. 481

by uniting both in his own person. Such writers have an adautted
privilege, if they see grounds for it, to condemn in their own clergy any
addictions towards military enterprise that may appear ; but I will take
on me to say, that it is not, at least, good taste in writers belonging to
the "church of England,*' to do the same thing, seeing that, within our
own memory, in these enlightened times, the Duke of York, while
commander of the British forces, was solemnly installed by the
Archbishop of Canterbury, '• Bishop of Osnaburgh ; " and remem-
bering, too, that her present Majesty, Victoria the First, is at once
head of the army, the navy, and the church of England.

The Psalter of Cashell was a collection, says the learned Irish
scholar O'Reilly, of Irish records in prose and verse, transcribed from
niore ancient documents, such as the Psalter of Tara, Sic. It contained
also many original poems, some of them written by Cormac himself.
This book was extant in Limerick in the year 1712, and indeed much
later, for we find the learned Mr. O'Halloran, who wrote his history in
that city, in quoting from it, says, " the Psalter of Cashell, now before
me;" and this is further attested by a large folio, in manuscript, which
was transcribed in the Irish language, from the great original. The
original work, in the hand-writing of the illustrious author, is now, accord-
ing to the assertion of the Iber no- Celtic Society, in the British Museum.
In the time of Sir James Ware, this work was referred to, and held in
high esteem ; and Astle, the author of the Origin of Writing, says,
*' The oldest Irish manuscript which we have discovered is the Psalter
of Cashell, written in the tenth century. In the Library of Trinity Col-
lege, Dublin, says Ware, there is a manuscript history of Ireland by
M'Geohegan, translated from an old book, which was compiled by
Columb Kille, O'More, and othei-s that were professed Irish chroniclers,
which states that Brien, observing into what ignorance the kingdom
was fallen, by the devastations and outrages of the Danes, having
assembled all the nobility, bishops, and great men, at Cashel, caused
all their history, from the time in which it had been left off, to be
recorded in the Psalter there, which they all signed ; copies of which
were sent into every province for the use of each provincial king ; and
no credit was to be given to any other relations of public affairs, than
what were contained in those chronicles."

I imagine the reader will thank me for inserting here part of an inter-
esting letter, written from Maynooth, in Ireland, by the celebrated
English divine, Dr. Milner, to one of his friends in England, bearing
date June 29, 1807. Milner' s Letters from Ireland.
61

482 IRISH CLERGY SPREAD OVER EUROPE.

" For who, sir, were the luminaries of the western world, when the
sun of science had almost set upon it ? Wiio were the instructors of
nations during four whole centuries, but the Irish clergy ? To them you
are indebted for the preservation of the Bible, the fathers, and the clas-
sics ; in short, of the very means by which you yourself have acquired
all the literature you possess. In whatever part of this extensive island
St. Patrick preached the gospel, he founded convents and schools of
instruction, by means of which he enlightened and civili?^ the inhabit-
ants at the same time that he converted them. These schools soon
became so famous, that they were frequented by crowds of students from
France, Flanders, and Geitnany, as well as frou) the different parts of
Britain. Gildas, the most ancient of our British writers whose works
are extant, studied for a long time at St. Patrick's seminary of Armagh,
as did, in the following century, St. Agilbert, a Frenchman, the second
bishop of the West Saxons. Soon after this, namely, in the seventh
century, we find great numbers of our countrymen, |X)or as well as rich,
flocking to Ireland as to a general mart of literature, where the hospita-
ble Scots, as the ihhabitants were then called, with a generosity
unknown in every other nation, not only instructed tl)em giatis, but also
fed them gratis. At length a residence in Ireland, like a residence now
at a university, was considered as almost essential to establish a literary
character. I cannot forbear quoting here the often-repeated lines which
Camden extracted from the Life of St. Sulgenius, who flourished in the
eighth century : —

' Exemplo patnim, commotus amore leg^endi,
Ivit ad Hibernos sophia inirabile claros.'

" Not content, however, with teaching the foreigners who came to them
for instruction, the Irish clergy, in the seventh, eighth, and ninth, centu-
ries, spread themselves over the greater part of Europe for the sake of
converting and civilizing the remaining pagans in the northern parts of it,
and of instructing the unlettered Christians, as was the case with most
of them every where. St. Killian became the apostle of Franconia,
St. Rumold of Brabant, St. Virgilius of Carinthia, St. Columban of the
Swiss, St. Gallus of the Grisons, being all of them Irishmen ; not to
speak of St. Donatus, bishop of Fesuli, and St. Cataldus, bishop of
Tarentum, who illuminated the church of Italy, nor of St. Fui-sy, St.
Fiacre, St. Firmin, St. Rupert, &.C., who illustrated the churches of
France and Germany. In a word, there is hardly a diocese in the
countries here mentioned which does not record the learning and sane-

FOREIGN SEMINARIES OF LEARNING FOUNDED BY IRISH. 483

tity of several illustrious missionaries from Ireland who formerly served
it. The most celebrated nurseries of learning in those ancient times,
both in our own country and abroad, were all instituted by Irish schol-
ars. It was the learned Irish bishop St. Aidan who instituted that of
Lindisferne, which enlightened the northern and midland parts of Eng-
land. It was the venerable monk Maidulph who opened the famous
school of Malmsbury, from which sacred and profane literature, Greek
as well as Latin, was diffused over the southern and western parts of it.
St. Columb Kille founded the learned monastery of lona, in the Western
Isles ; St. Columban. those of Luxieu and Bobbio ; St. Gall, the cele-
brated one which bore his name amongst the Alps. In short, we are
equally indebted to the Irish for the most renowned universities of mod-
ern times. Claudius Clemens was the first professor of the university
of Paris, as Joannes Scotus was of the one at Ticinum, or Padua.
Even our boasted university of Oxford is greatly, if not chiefly, indebted
for its foundation to the last-mentioned acute and eloquent scholar, who
first opened an academy for the instruction of English children upon the
plan of the aforesaid foreign universities, and who excited the great
Alfred to institute one equal to them in his own dominions. [Usher
Primord.] The centuriators of Magdeburg make Joannes Scotus the
first professor at Oxford ; but he seems to have died a little before the
schools were actually opened there. — N. B. It is agreed amongst the
learned, and it is evident by comparison, that our ancient English or
Saxon characters are boiTowed from those of Ireland.

" True it is, the calamity which almost extinguished the flame of
literature in England, — I mean the destruction of the monasteries by the
Danes, — was productive of the same effect in Ireland. Nevertheless, it
is easy to prove that the Irish clergy did not fall into total ignorance
during the dark period which succeeded this storm ; as, likewise, that
they soon recovered a considerable degree of their former literary credit ;
and, in short, that there was an uninterrupted succession of men eminent
for their learning and talents amongst them, even down to the second
destruction of monasteries by the tyrant Henry the Eighth. Even
under the cruel and almost uninterrupted persecution which they have
endured till within these few years, they have contrived to acquire,
not only professional, but also classical and ornamental literature.
Several of them have studied the classics and sacred literature under
hedges, for want of schools, and others have spread themselves
over the continent of Europe, in order to acquire that knowledge

484 EXTRACT FROM PROFESSOR GORRES.

which their predecessors originally diffused throughout it. Tlie suc-
cess which they have generally met with in their studies has been
equal to the ardor with which they have applied to them. Accordingly,
sir, you will find, upon inquiry, that the Irish students in the foreign
universities, down to the very period of the late revolution, carried off
more than their due proportion of prizes and professorships by the sheer
merit of superior talents and learning, and a much greater proportion
than fell to the lot of all other foreigners in tlie countries in question
put together."

Professor Gorres, of Munich, one of the most eminent philosophers
of Europe, in the present day, has, in his profound discourse on mystic
theology, beautifully expressed his admiration of Christian Ireland. Re-
ferring to the Gothic irruptions of the fifth century, he writes, " All not
engaged in the combat took refuge in the ark of the church ; which,
amid the mighty swell of waters, floating hither and thither, guarded the
treasures concealed within it ; and while, amid the general tumult of the
times, it secured a peaceful asylum to religious meditation, it continually
promoted the contemplative as well as heroic martyrdom. Such an asy-
lum was found from the middle of the fifth century, in the green Eme-
rald Isle,^ the ancient Erin, — whose secluded situation and watery
boundaries, as they had once served to protect her from the disorders of
the Roman empire, now sheltered her from the storms of the migration
of nations. Thither, seeking protection with St. Patrick, the church had
migrated, to take her winter-quarters, and had lavished all her blessings
on the people, who had given her so hospitable a reception. Under her
influence, the manners of the nation were rapidly refined ; monasteries
and schools flourished on all sides ; and, as the former were distinguished
for their austere discipline and ascetic piety, so the latter were conspic-
uous for their cultivation of science. While the flames of war were
blazing around her, the Green Isle enjoyed the sweets of repose. When
we look into the ecclesiastical life of this people, we are almost tempted
to believe that some potent spirits had transported over the sea the
cells of the valley of the Nile, with all their hermits ; its monasteries,
with all their inmates ; and had settled them down in the Western Isle —
an isle which, in the lapse of three centuries, gave eight hundred and
fifty saints to the church, won over to Christianity the north of Britain,
and, soon after, a large portion of die yet pagan Germany ; and, while
it devoted the utmost attention to the sciences, cultivated, with especial
care, the mystical contemplation in her religious communities, as well as
in the saints whom they produced."

PATRIARCHAL TEMPLES. 485

IRISH ARCHITECTURE.

There is not one of the national attributes of Ireland, which her jealous
rivals have endeavored more vehemently to snatch from her, and assume
as their own, than her sublime style of architecture. Many and many a
volume has been written to prove her ignorant, barbarous, super-
stitious, or savage, before the happy period of her political connection
with Britain, from which alone, as some people will have it, she may
date the commencement of her literature, civilization, religion, architec-
ture, and constitutional government.

A writer, who, like myself, maintains the converse of all this, is put
unceremoniously on his proofs, whilst those on the opposite side of the
question seem to think they are not called upon for any ; and, having it
in their power to point to the admitted opulence of England for the last
four hundred years, think that length of inheritance sufficient to build
up a claim to ages of national greatness. Happily, there is a third
nation growing up in the world, thoroughly impartial in its predilections,
and sufficiently important in the commonwealth of mind, to be appealed
to, — whose fiat, when finally pronounced through her historians and
philosophei-s, will place the image of Ireland in its proper niche in the
temple of intellectual fame. That country is America, — young
America, — whose empire grows with each diurnal revolution of the
earth. To her sons of intellect and enterprise I commit the claims of
Ireland to a due station in the commonwealth of mind.

I propose now to show that Ireland originated neariy all the styles of
architecture which were celebrated through Europe for so many ages as
" Gothic." In doing this, I will first sketch a few general outlines of
the earliest architecture of the ancients ; then show the nature of the
varied erections of Ireland, from the dawn of Christianity to the fall of
that country, in the twelfth century, which I shall sustain by dates and
diagrams ; and then I will trace the Irish missionaries and architects,
introducing their circular and pointed architecture into Britain, France,
Portugal, Italy, Switzeriand, and Germany. I will name the churches
they built and the dales of their erection, point to their style, and trace
their origin to Ireland ; and then I will ask the impartial reader for that
verdict which I do not fear to hear pronounced.

If we go back to what may be termed the second creation of man,
we shall find that the first act of Noah, after descending from the ark,
was to build an altar. Abraham built altars at various times, and so did

486 THE ANCIENT CAVES.

Jacob. The latter is the first who set up a stone under the circum-
stances detailed in the twenty-eighth chapter of Genesis. On awaking
from his remarkable dream, he said, " Surely- the Lord is in this place ; "
and he took the stone which he had put for his pillow, and set it up for
a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it ; and he called the name of the
place Bethel; and, dedicating it to the Deity, said, "And this stone
which I have set for a pillar shall be God's house." In many other
parts of the Old Testament we' find stones or pillars set up as memo-
rials of sacred engagements. Joshua said at the covenant of Shechem,
" Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us, for it hath heard all the
words of the Lord." We find Samuel, and others of the patriarchs
of the Old Testament, frequently set up stones as marks of something
solemn or sacred ; and it is a remarkable circumstance, coinciding so
wonderfully with the religious practices of the very first settlers in
Ireland, that large stones were raised in secluded spots, as the centres
round which they gathered to worship the Deity, those very stones being
called by the Irish Bothal, or house of God, which has the same
signification of the Hebrew Bethel. Moses erected twelve upright
stones, because of the number of the tribes. The ancient Egyptian
" worship stones," or " temples," were rude, unsquared, unchiseled, and
of great size. These upright stones were sometimes crossed with
others.

In those ages, men dwelt in caverns. Men first burrowed habitations
into hills and rising slopes. These were the primeval houses of the
great ; and cool and very comfortable houses they were in warm coun-
tries. At this day, the inhabitants of New York, poor and rich, and
those of some other American cities, live mostly in the basement story,
or cellars, of their houses, being the coolest in summer, and the warmest
in winter.

The generations immediately following Noah inhabited caverns. We
find the remains of extensive towns, and almost cities, cut in the Nubian
rocks, which run along the valley of the Nile. There are deserted
cities still to be seen in the solid rocks in some parts of India*^ The
excavations at Salcette, ten miles north of Bombay, must have em-'
ployed in the cutting forty thousand men for forty years.

The massive blocks of stone, cut out of the caverns in the valley of the
Nile, were, in the beginning, raised into great, unshapen mounds, which
became naturally nienioiials conunemorative of the great work. Under
these mounds the chief men were buried ; and succeeding kings, finding

PVRAJttlDS. CAVERNS. ROUND TOWERS. 487

that the veneration of the people was called up towards these gigantic
memorials, began to employ vast numbers of their vassals to erect those
conical monuments, under which, at their death, they were to be en-
tombed. The first pyramids erected were the smallest. Each succeed-
ing Pharaoh excelled his predecessor in the size of his tomb ; and hence
the number and greatness of these stupendous monuments of a proud
and powerful people.

The caves and caverns were, therefore, cut out before the pyramids
were begun. The caves of Egypt, India, Greece, and Ireland, are
nearly of equal age. There are no marks upon the face of Ireland so
ancient, and so deservedly venerable, as her numerous caves and exca-
vations. They proclaim, better than books, her high antiquity. What
a splendid monument of primeval ages is the cavern of New Grange,
near Drogheda ! Why it is still called Neiv Grange, I am sure I can-
not tell. It is, at the least, three thousand five hundred years old. It
might be proved older, but cannot be proved younger. It is of an age
with the excavations of India, and was dug before many of the pyra-
mids of Egypt were begun. There have been some other caves dis-
covered in Ireland of less magnitude than New Grange, but all of
nearly the same character, though not of equal extent. How many
more of these ancient abodes there may be yet undiscovered in that
country, no one can tell. New Grange was discovered by accident,
about seventy or eighty years ago. There were many carved pillai*s
found at the entrance ; and we find from Kholl, who visited the cave,
that paralleled curved lines, clearly Egyptian, are to be seen on the
stone altar. It may have been the habitation of a tribe, — at once the
fortress, abode, and place of worship, of a hardy band, into which neither
cold nor heat, wild beast nor marauder, could enter ; or it may have been
the treasury or tomb of some mighty chief, some unsung Agamemnon.
A laborious exploit it must have been, for it was arched with massive
flat blocks, and ornamented within. How many cities have been built
and swept clean from the earth since New Grange was hewed out and
fashioned !

Of an age with the pyramids were the great temples found in the
valley of the Nile, in Persia and India, also the round towers spread
through the latter country, so nearly resembling those which are remain-
ing in Ireland, and in China. In the latter, round towers are found in
every market town. The first of the excavations, and of the rude stone

488 FIRST CITIES. TENTS.

pillars, are four thousand years old ; the first of the pyramids, about
three thousand seven hundred ; the first of the round towers, about three
thousand five hundred years.

The conical hills through Bretagny, Britain, Scotland, and Ireland,
are all of one family, were used for the same purpose, and are of a date
exceeding three thousand five hundred years old, at least. The first
stone pillars erected for religious purposes are of the same age.

The next stage in building was the circular hut, made of trees,
branches, and clay. These were very simply constructed, in the midst
of flat plains and forests, by the shepherd class, who lived in the interior
of countries. A number of those huts were, for mutual protection, built
together, surrounded by circular trenches, and otherwise fortified, with
trees, stones, turf, fee, for the defence of cattle against wild beasts, or
marauding tribes.

Those were the first cities.

Of an age with those were the tents and marquees, covered with the
skins of beasts, these being the material not only of their tents, but of
their boats, and sometimes of their clothes. Those characteristics apply
to the early swarms of men who departed from the shores of the
Euphrates and the Nile, east, north, and west, to repeople the earth.
As I have shown in another place, those early movers were called
Celts, or Celta ; and wheresoever they went, whether into India, China,
America, or Europe, they brought with them the same first general
notions of every thing, whether of heaven or of earth.

It is one of the great mystic attributes of the Deity, in reference to
man, that, from the beginning, he has permitted him to range about from
opinion to opinion, in respect to his own divine power, nature, and will.
The first families that succeeded Noah and his children observed the
general form of divine worship instituted by him. They assembled
around great upright stones, to acknowledge their obedience to God, and
reflect on their crimes.

A few ages only passed, when offshoots from those families scattered
into distant lands, and adopted novelties in language, customs, and
religion. It appears that they every where worshipped one supreme
Spirit, though great diversity of opinion grew up as to the nature of
that Spirit, his attributes^ or identity. But all acknowledged there was
a Supreme Being, and all worshipped that Being under some name or
symbol.

Hence the universal enthusiasm with which men, in all countries and

FIRST ARCHITECTS. PHffiNICIANS. 489

ages, devoted life, wealth, power, every thing, to the erection of temples
to this Supreme Being.

This induced study, invention, and improvement, in the art of
building, which has grown to a science, and is called architecture.
Endeavoring to be brief, I must cut off from the reader's view an
extensive Eastern plain, covered with the most varied specimens of
temple ruins, built in the course of unnumbered generations, exhibiting
the various ideas of man under dissimilar influences. We would doubt
the most creditable historian, who should relate to us that men performed
such- prodigies of labor as tlie pyramids, caverns, temples, and sphinxes
of Egypt ; the magnificent cities of Assyria, with their walls three hun-
dred feet high, their hundred brass gates, and their streets fifteen
miles long ; the excavations in India, in which thousands upon thou-
sands resided ; the great wall of China, forming a road and bounda-
ry two thousand miles long, and other wonderful works ; — did not many
of the deeds themselves remain above the earth to speak for their
architects.

I would come at once to the architectural labors of that great people,
to whom all history, sacred and profane, yields the honor of establish-
ing the science of architecture, as followed up and developed by the
most civilized of the succeeding nations, — I mean the Phoenicians.
Though I have, in my early pages on ancient architecture, proved the
preeminence of the Phoenicians in this respect, yet I will here insert a
few words extracted from the works of Elmes, who is considered by the
most eminent architects of England a good authority.

" The Phoenicians are generally supposed to be those descendants
of Noah who settled on the coast of Palestine, and are the same
people who are called, in the Old Testament, the Canaanites, — a word
signifying merchants, — and afterwards, by the Greeks, Phanicions.
Sidon, their capital, so often spoken of by Homer, was eclipsed by its
own colony. Tyre. These primitive people occupied the coast of Asia
eastward of Egypt, and extending from Arabia Deserta to the Mediter-
ranean Sea. It is but a small territory, but its people have been greatly
celebrated as the inventors of navigation, arithmetic, and writing. In-
habiting a barren soil, they applied themselves to commerce and the
arts, and appear to have been distinguished for their excellence in
manufactures and works of taste. Their first advanced posts, in the
march of civilization, were the Isles of Cyprus and Rhodes ; from thence
successively into Greece, Sicily, Sardinia, and Italy ; afterwards into
62

490

JEWISH TEMPLES.

Gaul ; and, always advancing, discovered the southern and western
coasts of Spain, and onwards into the British isles.

Of their beautiful city Tyre, the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth
chapters of Ezekiel give a grand and a poetical description, describing
it as of " perfect beauty in the midst of the sea."

" Thy borders are in the midst of the seas. Thy builders have per-
fected thy beauty. They have made all thy shipboards of fir-trees of
Sener. They have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee.
Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars. The company of
the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory. Fine linen, with
broidered work from Egypt, was that which thou spreadest forth to be
thy sail. Blue and purple, from the isles of Elishah, was that [the gar-
ments] which covered thee. The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad
were thy mariners. Thy wise men, O Tyrus, were thy pilots. The
ancients of Gebal, and the wise men thereof, were thy calkers. All the
ships of the sea, with their mariners, were in thee to occupy thy mer-
chandise. Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of
all kind of riches. With silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy
fairs," &tc. &;c.

The sacred text continues to describe the merchants of Javan,
Tubal, Meshech, Togormach, Deden, Syria, Judah, Damascus,
Dan, Arabia, Sheba, Asshur, Chilma, — which are the names of
nations or kings, whose merchants traded in the city of Tyre, for
horses, mules, oxen, horns, ivory, ebony, emeralds, purples, and em-
broidered work, fine linen, coral, agate, minnith, pannag, honey, oil,
and balm, wine, white wool, bright iron, cassia, (mirrors,) and cala-
mus, precious cloths for chariots, spices, precious stones, and gold, blue
cloths, broidered work, chests of rich apparel bound with cords ; all
these, with " multitudes of rich wares," were sold in the fairs of Tyre.

The Phcenicians had several other cities, distinguished for their mag-
nificence, wealth, manufactures, and extended commerce : among the
principal were Joppa, Damascus, and Baalbec. The Egyptians
would allow no other nation than the Phoenicians to trade with them.
Hence the knowledge of Egypt was accessible only to the latter, and
by them was communicated to their colonies. — Elmes^s Lectures on
Architecture, p. 112.

The Jews, by a residence of four hundred years in Egypt, anterior
to the time of Moses, became acquainted with the arts and sciences
then known in that country. After their deliverance, they led a wan-

CHINESE ARCHITECTURE. 491

dering life for forty years. They dedicated a temple to God, after the
manner of the Egyptians, who worshipped visionary deities. Being
necessary to carry it with them through the wilderness, they constructed
it in tiie form of a spacious tent ; this was called " the tabernacle ; " it was
one hundred and fifty cubits long by fifty wide, five cubits high, formed of
wooden columns, with brass bases, and silver capitals, having curtains
of tapestry suspended between them. These columns were sixty in num-
ber, twenty on each side, and ten on each end, which faced the east and
west. The Jews used this temple for a length of time after the conquest
of Palestine; but, under the reign of Solomon, constructed a permanent
temple at Jerusalem, which, together with several palaces for King Da-
vid and King Solomon, were built by Tyrian artists and workmen.

The architectural structures of the Chinese are very ancient, and have
been, according to Sir William Chambers, modeled after tents and pavil-
ions. From this arises its essential character — lightness; and its de-
fect— weakness. The materials are wood, brick, and tiles; the latter
are dried in the sun or burnt. They are regulated in their buildings by
very strict municipal laws, which prescribe, with the greatest accuracy,
even to feet and inches, how the Lon, or palace of the prince, of the
first, second, or third order, of the imperial family, should be built ; then,
of a grandee of the empire ; and lastly, of a mandarin. .They also
regulate the size, proportion, and style, of the buildings of second, third,
or fourth rate cities and towns, through the empire. These laws are
very ancient. The gradations in their buildings, lengths of the terraces,
heights of the roofs, are marked distinctly ; from the simple citizen to
the man of letters, from the man of letters to the mandarin, from him to
the prince, from the prince to the emperor. The common houses are
mere huts of a single floor. The fronts of their houses, next the street,
have no windows, and they hang a mat before their doors to prevent
passers-by looking in. Their palaces are grand though somewhat fantas-
tical. They have lofty lowers, in the market towns, all through China,
which are not unlike the round towers of Ireland. They are used
for astronomical and atmospherical observations, or as sepulchral tombs,
and are isolated, round, square, hexagonal, or octagonal, and built
with several materials. They place "umbrellas" on their towers, which
are in some degree related to the apex of the round tower of Ireland.
They have also triumphal arches erected- to innumerable distinguished
men, and some women. Their canals exceed in extent any thing con-
ceived by Europeans, and their great wall of two thousand miles' length,
with its forty thousand towers, defies all imitation.

492 ' ETRUSCAN ARCHITECTURE.

Etruria, (the present Italy,) lying on the north side of the Mediter-
ranean Sea, a few days' sail from Tyre, was, as I have before shown,
the most considerable of the Phoenician colonies. Its cities were built
upon the same plans, its architects constructed on the same principles ;
its merchants were as rich, and its artists were as celebrated, as those
of Tyre, Sidon, or Damascus. Of the former cities not a vestige
remains : the chief memorial of their opulence and celebrity is to be
found in holy writ. The remains of Etruria fill the tombs and caverns
of ancient Italy, and establish the science, art, and opulence, of its
Phoenician inhabitants.

The Etrurians, and, I presume, the Phoenicians, were the only nations
amongst the ancients who understood the principles of architecture,
according to our ideas of the science. The stone pyramids of Egypt
are built without cement ; the huge stones fitted together so closely
that a knife could not be thrust between them. The brick-built pyra
mids are not so old as those erected of uncemented stones ; and, in the
temple of Belus, built of brick, by the Assyrians, we are informed that
they used a sort of vegetable tar ; from which we may conclude, they
were then ignorant of the means of converting stones and earth into
lime — a most important discovery, and, like most others_, made by
accident. •

The finar and arch were used, in their erections, by the Etruscans,
and they have left behind an order or style of architecture which is
called Doric, and sometimes Tuscan. There has been a long contro-
versy between antiquarians, about the true fathers of the arch. One
class contends that the Egyptians, and another, that the Etruscans
originated it. It is maintained, by Elmes. that the Egyptians, in their
early career, were ignorant of the principle of the arch, or they certain-
ly would not have transported the roof of the temple of Latona, at Butis,
from the Island of Philoe, a distance of nearly six hundred miles. It
was the most enormous block of stone ever moved by human power.
It contained above one hundred and forty-four thousand cubic feet, and
weighed above twenty millions of pounds — eight thousand seven hun-
dred tons.

The Etruscans have left specimens of very ancient methods of con-
struction. To them has been attributed the invention of building with
small pieces of stone joined together by calcareous cements, because in
their country are found the earliest examples of this method of con-
struction. — Elmes's Lectures, p. 281. — The ruins of Etruria, its arched

PRINCIPLE OF GRECIAN ARCITECTURE.

493

shores and gateways, composed of cemented stones, and far more
ancient than those of Rome, (which rose upon its fall,) leave no doubt
whatever that its inhabitants were acquainted with the principles and
use of the arch. The largest entrance into the Vola Terra is a mag-
nificent arch, called the Gate of Hercules, built by the Etrurians.
They built several theatres, where the supposed actions of their deities
in heaven were represented : the entertainment formed part of their
religious worship. The capitol at Rome, the temple of Jupiter, and
many other public buildings in that city, were built by the Etrurian
architects.

From Etruria, as I have already incontestably proved, in my early
pages. No. 132 to 146, marched forth science to the east and to the
west. Its journey to Ireland, through the medium of Etrurian com-
merce, has also been proved, and its approach to the Isles of Hellas,
(Greece,) though later, is as distinctly observable.

And this brings us to the development of the two great principles on
^\hich the various styles and orders of architecture have been raised.
These two principles in architecture are called the arched and the
columnar. Greece seems to have cultivated the columnar, and Ireland
the arched style. In these opposite decisions the inhabitants were
influenced by their respective climates. In Greece, and in the East
generally, they have, or had, no rain. Their vegetation was nourished
by dewy exhalations from the earth ; therefore their flat roofs and their
square style of architecture, as we may symbol in the following out-
line — two upright pillars and a cross-beam :

The architecture of Ireland was fashioned by the influence of the
Climate, — which is generally rainy. It will be found, by the ancient

494

PRINCIPLE OF IRISH ARCHITECTURE.

ruins, to have been raised according to the principle symboled in the
following outline — two upright pillars and a pointed arch :

Keeping distinctly these two fundamental principles continually in
view, we shall be able to trace the two great styles of architecture,
Grecian and Irish, through the labyrinth of styles, orders, and innu-
merable technicalities, with which science and caprice have invested
them. The elegant superstructures called Grecian are raised in square
or angular pieces, with vertical columns, and horizontal beams. Arched
architecture is the opposite of this. It is raised by a series of arches,
starting from columns, or clusters of columns, which sometimes Ave again
intersected by other arches, in a transverse direction, forming beautiful
groins, or quarter arches, admitting the most romantic and endlessly
various embellishments. " Both styles," says Hazlitt, " are founded in
the indestructible principles of human nature."

The Greeks improved the style which they adopted. They divided
their improvements into stages, which they called after the persons by
whom, or the cities in which, the improvements were made. The first
was simple and unadorned, called the Doric : its column is fluted along
the shaft, and terminates at the top by a capital, called a tile. The
second was called Ionic, the column of which was generally fluted,
taller, and more slender ; the shaft placed upon a pedestal, and topped
by a capital, with volutes as ornaments, in the form of the crooked
horns of the ram.

GREEK ORDERS. ROMAN ARCHITECTURE. 495

The CorinOiian was the third or last order of the Greeks, and did not
appear until long after the other two had been in use. Its character-
istics are richness, in all its carvings, flutings, and ornaments. The
capital of the column is fashioned after a flower-basket, set on a tomb,
surrounded by foliage. These orders are distinguishable from each
other by the fashion of the column, with which all the accessories and
appurtenances of the building must correspond.

The Greeks, like their masters, the Phoenicians, first used wood in
their erections, then brick, stone, and lastly, marble. Occasionally,
bronze pillars are found in their ruins. They never allowed more than
three orders. The Romans admitted five. Nature, says Elmes, dictates
but three, viz., robust, chaste, elegant. These the Greeks had imbodied
in the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. The Romans would have one
more elegant than the elegant, and one more robust than the robust, —
hence their Tuscan and Composite, — without any fixed law, depending
merely upon taste or caprice.

The Greeks had splendid public temples, but miserable private
dwellings. Statues and pictures filled their galleries ; but they had
no public bridges — not even over the stream which coursed through
the far-famed Athens, through which the citizens were obliged to
wade.

The Romans compounded an order from the vertical and horizontal
style of the Greeks, and the arched style of the Etruscans. They
jumbled both together with much tawdry ornament. " The architec-
ture of Rome," says Elmes, " possesses, in its various superabiandant
ramifications, heaps of affectations and conceits, solely arising from the
error of employing the orders, columns, pediments, and cornices, merely
as ornaments, whereas the Greeks used them as principal and necessary
parts. Their architecture gave to posterity the swollen composite;
their sculpture, the exaggerated style of the gladiator." For the first
six or seven hundred years of^ the Roman republic, they built their
private dwellings, their great temples, and theatres, of wood. Those
that remain, in stone, and marble, and brick, in such colossal ruins,
were built from about fifty years before Christ to one hundred and
fifty years after. When the Romans had reduced the Greeks com-
pletely under their rule, and earned home their learned men as captives,
whom they compelled to instruct their youth, — then commenced the
rise of what is called Roman architecture, massive, grand, irregular,
extravagantly ornamented. The private dwellings of both Greek and
Roman citizens were, however, miserable huts, of only one floor. The

496 THE GOTHS.

pure Greek architecture, from the same period, declined, and never after-
wards revived. Such as were afterwards erected in Greece, were of the
compound Roman character.

The celebrated Roman writer Vitruvius has left behind a work on
Roman architecture, in which he endeavors to establish a series of
canons and a grammar. As it was the first work which specially
treated of architecture as a science, it was considered, for a long
time, a safe guide in erecting works of strength and grandeur; but
other men have long since entered the field of architectural debate,
and have analyzed the axioms of Vitruvius, condemned the most of
them by the test of science and time, and returned back on the Greek
school for the laws and models of columnar architecture. It must be
confessed that no nation can vie with Greece in the construction of
that class of erections denominated the elegant public buildings of
a city ; viz., theatres, palaces, senate-houses, and the like. Courts of
justice, jails, and other grave works, have been built in the massive or
Doric order ; while the true order for churches, and all buildings devoted
to religion, is the Irish, alone, characterized by the circular or pointed
arch, with pillars and buttresses, tapering upwards, with pyramidal or
spire-like terminations. This style had been called Gothic for the
first time in the sixteenth century, and by that style has been distin-
guished, though most improperly, to the present time. Although the
Greeks were admitted as elegant in their style of architecture, yet
Hoskings has the following remarks in reference to them : " Ignorance
of the use of the arch, inferior carpentry, the absence of glass, and the
ignorance of the use of chimneys, were disadvantages which the Greeks
labored under, in the construction of their houses, that no degree of taste
and elegance could completely countervail.

" Architecture," says Hoskings, page 16, " was already extinct among
the Romans, when the seat of empire was transferred to Constantinople,
by Constanline, about three hundred and seventy yeare after the birth of
Christ. The change of religion, which then took place, led to the destruc-
tion of many of the noblest structures of Rome. The materials of her
decaying temples were converted into the new churches ; and these wGire
built without any order or architectural principle vvhatever." The first
Christian church erected by Justin, at Byzantium, [Constantinople,]
called San Sophia, was built partly of columns brought from Rome, and
in a compound style, in which no distinct order was prominent. This
model, in compliment to the emperor, was that which nearly all the
Christians around the seat of power followed in their erections ; and

THE ARCHITECTURE OF IRELAND. 497

those in Rome, Greece, Italy, and other places, where the new religion
took root, followed, as near as they could, the same example.

Now, about this style all writers are agreed — all architects, all noen
of science and taste, — that it was utterly and absolutely absurd, un-
architectural, barbarous.

During the Gothic irruptions over all Europe, in the two hundred
years from the beginning of the fifth to the close of the sixth century,
all science, art, and literature, were trampled under foot. The Latin
language, as I have before remarked, was absolutely lost. Egypt had
long previously become a vast ruin. Greece was, for centuries, reduced
to bondage ; and now, the mighty Rome herself, the mistress so long
of all the world but Ireland, was, in turn, reduced to a shapeless ruin ;
her temples tumbled, her palaces inhabited by cattle, her theatres
tenantless, and desolation weeping over the fanes of her greatness.

During this period of chaos and ignorance, all idea of architec-
tural construction had vanished from the continent of Europe. We
shall see in the case of architecture, as in those of literature and music,
that in Ireland alone was its principle purely cultivated, so far, at
least, as the arched style.

" To Ireland," in the eloquent language of Professor Gorres, the Ger-
man philosopher, — " To Ireland the affrighted spirit of truth had flown
during the Gothic irruptions in Europe ; and there made its abode in
safety until Europe returned to repose, when those hospitable philoso-
phers, who had given it an asylum, were called by Europe to restore
its effulgent light over her bedarkened forests."

I have already made the reader aware that Ireland kept pace, in
knowledge, with her kindred race on the shores of the Mediterranean,
until about the time of Julius Caesar, fifty years before Christ. Caesar's
wars in Gaul and Britain, and the occupation of those countries, broke
up, for four centuries, all communication between Ireland and the con-
tinent of Europe.

Ireland improved her architecture during all this time. The progress
of art is like that of the scarce-noticed fountain which silently glides
along an humble watercourse. By degrees it becomes a rivulet, and
increases to a brook. Capable now of utility, it rises into consequence,
spreads on like a swelling river, and rolls majestically to the ocean,
giving power to machinery, and employment, utility, and blessings to
the people.

It was thus the arched architecture of Ireland stole onwards to im-
portance ; it was thus, as we shall see, that the arched principle was
63

498

ARCHED STYLE OF ARCHITECTURE.

conducted into Europe by those indefatigable Irish missionaries, who
spread literature and Christianity over the western part of that continent,
in the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries.

I respectfully and earnestly solicit the patient attention of the reader
to the proofs which I shall now lay before him in support of this
proposition.

I am fully aware of the danger of entering on this profound question,
and feel my incapability, wanting as I do that knowledge of the science,
and of many of the technicalities which belong to it. There are
general principles, however, which belong to nature, and are governed
by its laws alone, with which I feel myself competent to deal ; and
there are, besides, historical facts on my side, which cannot be perverted
or converted to the purposes of delusion in this enlightened age.

The English and Scotch writers, who have entered on this question,
have claimed the merit of arched architecture for England or for Scot-
land, according as their partialities impelled them ; others have given
the honor to the Eastern nations, and some to the black Moors who
overran Spain in the eighth century. To any and to every nation was
the honor offered, but to the right owner, down-trodden Ireland ; for,
during the last seven hundred years,

"It was poverty to honor,
Treason to love,
And death to defend her."

The ages of the caverns had passed away, the ages of the round
towers, and square, vaulted castles, succeeded. See the engravings
at pages 133 and 143. These latter gave place to the arched and
gable-roofed buildings, which have prevailed in Ireland for better
than two thousand years. It is historically true that the ancient
Irish built their private and many of their public structures of oak,
wattle, and clay, like the ancient Greeks and Romans. The round
towers, and square, vaulted castles, that yet remain, cannot be less
than two thousand five hundred to three thousand years old. There
are comparatively few of those remaining. Very many of them
have been swept from the earth by time, like the cities of Tyre,
Babylon, Nineveh, Carthage, and others of coeval ages. The
Druidical temples of Ireland were generally built in a masculine Doric
style, to insure durability. The fragments of broken cornices and
architraves, as well as the sculptured figures that enriched the friezes
of those edifices, which are still to be seen in Ireland, afford an indu-

FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES OF IRELAND. 4S9

bitable proof of the perfection to which the pagan Irish carried the
arts of sculpture and architecture. The palaces of Tara and Emania
were immense piles, whose vaulted domes rested, to use the language of
Dr. Harris, "on a forest of marble columns." These have perished
beneath the hand of time, and also beneath the withering curse of the
church. We are told that, in the sixth century, a chief of note com-
mitted murder on his antagonist in the national assembly of Tara, and
fled, according to the custom of the time, for sanctuary, to a neighbor-
ing monastery. The king's guards pursued him thither, dragged him
forth in defiance of the usage, and warning voice of the holy directors
of the abbey, and carried him back to Tara, where he was punished
with death.

The bishop and monks of this abbey then came in procession before
the walls of Tara, and pronounced against it a curse ; and from that
day its opulence and authority ceased. No man ventured within its
precincts. Its arched roofs and thickly-columned walls fell to decay by
degrees, and, in the course of a few ages, the spot where it reared its
ornamented head can alone be seen. The feo, or parliament, met in a
place near to it, and the bards filled their songs with mournings for
its fall.

Before Christianity was introduced into the island, the Druids were the
architects. They built their places of worship of stone and cement,
and in the very form of that gahle represented by the oudine, page
494. Usher tells us, and Father Colgan before him, that there
were eleven hundred stone churches in Ireland in St. PatricJc^s time.
These were all built on the round arch or pointed arch principle ; and
the church writers affirm that the Christian apostle converted, in all
cases, the Druid temples into churches. Are we to doubt Primate
Usher, who, as an antiquarian, stands coequal with Newton and Sir
William Jones ? There are a few, a very few, of the ruins of these
primitive churches yet to be seen in Ireland.

The antiquarian is referred to the Island of Iniscathy, near the mouth
of the River Shannon — described in the Boole of Ballimote, as "the
wonder of Ireland" — for material to ponder on. St. Senanus, in
490, built no fewer than eleven small churches of stone and cement on
this celebrated spot, which, for countless generations before his time,
had been the scene of Druid rites and worship ; for here is also found,
looking down upon those Christian ruins, one of the largest and most
remarkable of the pagan round towers, which was built, at least, fifteen
hundred years before the time of St. Senanus. It measures one hun-

500 ANCIENT SPECIMENS. IRISH ANTK^UITIES NEGLECTED.

dred and twenty feet liigh, and springs from a base twenty-two feet in cir-
cumference. Although scathed and rent by lightning, the original roof
remains in the form of a conical cap, or barred, which, Walker says,
the national architects and sculptors of Ireland regarded as a dress
becoming even to angels.

The word church, thirteen hundred years ago, had a very different
meaning from the import of the word at present. It was, then, a
mere cell, hermitage, or sanctuary. Although, as it is recorded, eleven
churches were built upon the island by St. Senanus, the remains of
seven, only, are now to be traced. The chief or cathedral church
called St. Mary's, and one other, are in pointed style, but
possess no other attraction. The "seven churches," built by St.
Kevin, in the county of Wicklow, on the gloomy rock of Gknda-
lough — whose very name calls up an echo of the grandest antiquarian
associations — about the same time, (the fifth century,) the ruins of
which yet remain, are similar evidences in favor of the great proposi-
tion.

These ruins are the oldest remaining in Europe of the pointed style.
There is no doubt whatever about their date or history. They are the
indexes to the bed of that ancient current of architecture, which
flowed on from century to century, expanding in dimensions, beauty,
and magnificence.

I will quote an entire article on this topic from the London Athe-
neeum of June, 1844.

" It is much to be regretted that the society, lately established in
Eno-land, having for its object the preservation of British antiquities,
did not extend its design over those of the sister island, which are
daily becoming fewer and fewer in number. That the gold ornaments,
which are so frequently found in various parts of Ireland, should be
melted down for the sake of the very pure gold of which they are
composed, is scarcely surprising ; but that carved stones, and even
immense Druidical remains, should be destroyed, is, indeed, greatly to be
lamented. At one of the late meetings of the Royal Irish Academy,
a communication was made of the intention of the proprietor of the
estate at New Grange to destroy that most gigantic relic of Druidical
times, which has justly been termed the Irish pyramid, merely because
its vast size ' cumbereih the ground.' At Mellifont, a modern corn-mill
of large size has been built out of the stones of the beautiful monastic
buildings, some of which still adorn that charming spot. At Monaster-
boice, the churchyard of which contains one of the finest of the round

IRISH ANTIQUITIES NEGLECTED. 501

towers, are the ruins of two of the little ancient stone Irish churches,
and three most elaborately carved stone crosses, eighteen or twenty feet
high. The churchyard itself is overrun with weeds, the sanctity of the
place being its only safeguard. At Clonmacnoise, where, some forty
years ago, several hundred inscriptions in the ancient Irish character
were to be seen upon the gravestones, scarcely a dozen (and they the
least interesting) are now to be found ; the large, flat stones, on which
they were carved, forming excellent slabs for doorways, the copings of
walls, &;c. ! It was the discovery of some of these carved stones in
such a situation which had the effect of directing the attention of Mr.
Petre (then an artist in search of the picturesque, but now one of the most
enlightened and conscientious of the Irish antiquaries) to the study of
antiquities ; and it is upon the careful series of drawings made by him
that future antiquarians must rely for very much of ancient architectural
detail now destroyed. As to Glendalough, it is so much a holiday
place for the Dubliners, that it is no wonder every thing portable has
disappeared. Two or three of the seven churches are levelled to the
ground ; all the characteristic carvings described by Ledwich, and
which were ' quite unique in Ireland,'' are gone. Some were removed
and used as key-stones for the arches of Derrybawn bridge. Part of
the churchyard has been cleared of its gravestones, and forms a
famous place, where the villagers play at ball against the old walls of
the church. The little church, called 'St. Kevin's Kitchen,' is given
up to the sheep. The abbey church is choked up with trees and
brambles, and, being a little out of the way, a very few of the carved
stones still remain there, two of the most interesting of which I found
used as coping-stones to the wall which sun'ounds it. The connection
between the ancient churches of Ireland and the north of England
renders the preservation of the Irish antiquities especially interesting to
the English antiquarian ; and it is with the hope of drawing attention
to the destruction of those ancient Irish monuments that I have written
these few lines. The Irish themselves are, unfortunately, so engrossed
with political and religious controversies, that it can scarcely be hoped
that, single-handed, they will be roused to the rescue even of these evi-
dences of their former national greatness. Besides, a great obstacle
exists against any interference with the religious antiquities of the
country, from the strong feelings entertained by the people on the
subject, although practically, as we have seen, of so little weight.
Let us hope that the public attention directed to these objects will have
a beneficial result, and insure a greater share of 'justice to Ireland;'

502 ANCIENT SPECIMENS OF THE POINTED ARCH.

lor will it be believed that the only establishment in Ireland for the
propagation and dilFusion of scientific and antiquarian knowledge — the
Royal Irish Academy — receives annually the munificent sum of three
hundred pounds from the government ! And yet, notwithstanding this
miserable pittance, the members of that society have made a step in the
right direction, by the purchase of the late dean of St. Patrick's Irish
Archaeological Collection, of which a fine series of drawings is now
being made at the expense of the academy, and of which they would,
doubtless, allow copies to be made, so as to obtain a return of a portion
of the expense to which they are now subjected. Small, moreover, as
this collection is, it forms a striking contrast with our own National
Museutn, which, rich in foreign antiquities, is almost without a single
object of native archa3ological interest, if we except the series of Eng-
lish and Anglo-Saxon coins and manuscripts."

St. Brendan erected a superb abbey in Ardferd, in the sixth century.
It was partially destroyed by fire in 1080, and rebuilt, together with
a cathedral, on the arched principle. In the mouldering choir of
the cathedral, is to be found an alto relievo, exquisitely sculp-
tured.

The great abbey and cathedral of Clanmacnoise, in the King's
county, were built in 549. It is a magnificent ruin, attesting great
knowledge in the design and construction. From two thousand to three
thousand students were, for many ages, accommodated within its
capacious walls. " The gray pinnacles," says Pepper, " and time-
tinged turrets of these vast ruins, look out upon the majestic Shannon
in awful sublimity." In Roscarbery, in the south of Ireland, are ruins
of the sixth century, and near the spot are several great caves, divided
into chambers, discovered in 1791.

The round tower of Roscrea, built in the early Druid ages, is eighty
feet high, and fifteen feet in diameter, with two steps round it at the
bottom. At fifteen feet from the ground is a window with a regular
ARCH, and at an equal height is another window with a pointed arch.
The ruins of the old church, built near it by St. Cronan in the sixth
century, are all in the old pointed or gable style.

Eraly, now a poor village, was the spot on which St. Alhc erected
his first cathedral, or bishop's church, in 501. It is fourteen miles west
of Cashell, in the south of Ireland. In the close of the sixth century,
a university was built here, which, until the city was plundered and
burnt by the Danes, in the ninth century, afforded accommodation, as
recorded by Colgan, for fifteen hundred students at a time. "Here,"

SPLENDIB RUINS. 503

says Pepper, " is still to be seen a wilderness of architectural ruins
worthy the pen of a Byron or the pencil of a Rosa."

" The ancient Damliag, or House of Stone,^' says Moore, " erected
by St. Kienan as early as the fifth century, some of the ruins of
Glendalough, and parts of the small church of St. Donlach, near
Dublin, present features of remote antiquity, and prove them to be of a
much earlier date than the chapel of Cormac, at Cashell, (anno 880 ;)
this latter structure being clearly a specimen of the more ornate stage
of that old circular style of architecture, which, in the church of St.
Donlach, is seen in its ruder and yet undecorated form. It may be
remarked, as peculiar to these ancient Irish churches, that their roofs
are of stone bound by cement, and that the ciypts, instead of being
subterranean, as in some of the ancient British churches, are situated
aloft between the ceiling and the angular roo/" of stone."

The splendid cathedral, erected by St. Patrick, in Armagh, in the
fifth century, as the chief church of Ireland, has been so often battered
by invaders, and so often repaired by the native Irish in the fashion of
the age in which the new alterations took place, that we cannot make
any use of it as evidence. We are told by the church annalists, A. D.
838, that it was originally built of stone and cement in the cruciform
shape, with many pillars and arches, having a square tower fifty feet high.
Being the chief seat of power for many ages, it has suffered more alterations
than almost any other edifice in Ireland. It was repaired about sixty or
seventy years ago by the then Protestant primate Lord Rokeby, who not
only restored the cathedral, but erected a splendid portico, in the old arch
style, in conformity with the genius and style of the old building. To him
Armagh is indebted for its reassuming the appearance of a city, which it
may now be denominated — the most beautiful inland city of Ireland.

The magnificent abbey of St. Francis, near Sligo, erected in the seventh
century, in that peculiar style of arch, and spirally carved column, which
prevailed in Ireland in that age, yet remains, in its colossal ruins, the ad-
miration of all travellers.* There are forty arches of stone raised on
massive, but well-carved columns, yet remaining, that support the long,
arched roof of stone, which is in very good preservation.

But I feel myself going too far into this question, and must stop
abruptly ; for, indeed, there is much more to be said in support of my
proposition, than I have said, or can find room to say in these pages.
I will at once allow one of the most eminent of modern English
architects (Mr. Elmes) to give his opinion on the point. Mr.

* The erection of this vast building is by some erroneously attributed to Maurice
Fitzgerald, lord justice of Ireland, A. D. 1252.

504 OPINIONS OF ENGLISH ARCHITECTS.

Elmes, as he says in the preface to his book, had prepared a course of
lectures on ancient and modern architecture. Having spent many
years of his hfe in the study of the art abroad and at home ; having
been enlightened by a high classical education ; and feeling competent
to come before the learned of England, to criticise the various styles
and orders of the present and the past of their own nation, besides the
prevailing and exploded styles of the polite nations of Europe, — he was
well able to present the question, in all its bearings, to his countrymen.

He did so. He delivered two or three courses of these lectures^ in
London, in 1819. But he never had been in Ireland ; had looked but
slightly, if at all, into her history ; nor can we blame him for this. The
genius of every British government, that ruled for the last seven hun-
dred years, has excluded Ireland from the study of youth, has tended
to decry her old institutions, to deny her former fame, and to destroy
every vestige of her history. " It was, till the time of James the
First," says Mr. Webb, " an object of government to discover and
destroy every literary remain of the Irish, in order the more fully to
eradicate from their minds every trace of their ancient independence."

Mr. ElmeSj like most young Englishmen, was taught, from the nursery
to the village school, from the university to the parliament, to despise
Ireland and the Hirish. He prepared his lectures on architecture,
therefore, without as much as thinking of that country. But his curi-
osity led him at last to Ireland. He saw and examined for him-
self, and confesses, honestly, that, after his visit to that country, he saw

REASON TO ALTER A GREAT PART OF HIS BOOK.

But we will hear himself: —

" The following lectures were originally written for, and dehvered at,
the Surrey Institution, in the winter of 1819. They were, secondly,
with muck alteration, and, with many additions made, after a tour

THROUGH PARTS OF IRELAND, INTERESTING FOR ARCHITECTURAL AN-
TIQUITIES, delivered at the Russell Institution, in the winter of 1820.
— Preface to Elmes's Lectures on Architecture.

" From tours," he says, " which I have recently made through some
of the most interesting parts of Ireland for architectural antiquities, and
from considerable investigation into its history, I conceive that country
to have been peopled originally and directly from the East ; the
ancient architecture, the ancient religion and language of Ireland, and
those of the inhabitants of Hindustan and other Oriental countries,
coinciding in a wonderful manner.

"The pyramids of Egypt have narrow passages beneath. At
Benares, in India, there are also long caves under the ground ; and that at

OPINIONS OF ENGLISH ARCHITECTS. 505

New Grange, near Drogheda, in Ireland, is of the same character. I
doubt not but that this interesting work is of as great antiquity as any in
Europe, and was a burying-place for the ancient Irish. No one ac-
quainted with the subject could avoid being struck with the likeness
between one of the round towers of Ireland, at Kilkenny, measured
by myself, and one of the ancient towers or pillars of India, near
Allahabad.

"The first letter of the Irish alphabet is called ailirti; that of the
Hebrew, aleph ; — the second, b, beith ; Hebrew, beth ; — m in Irish is
muin ; in Hebrew, mem ; — n in Irish is nuin ; in the latter, nun ; — r is
ruis in Irish ; in Hebrew, eus ; — boodh also is Irish ; and boodh, or
hoodha, in Sanscrit, means the same unhewn upright stone of worship ; —
heth signifies, in Irish and Hebrew, a house ; coph, a curve; daleth in
Hebrew, and durres in Irish, a door.

"Mr. Lynch, the secretary to the Gaelic Society of Dublin, says, in
his Grammar, that the names of the Irish letters are very ancient, and
seem to have been derived from the language spoken by Noah, from
which they were adopted by the Chaldeans, Egyptians, and Canaanites,
or Phoenicians, and by these introduced into Greece and the south-west
of Europe. This is also the opinion of Eupolemus, Eusebius, St.
Jerome, St. Augustine, and Bellarmine, with most of our modern
philosophers."

Mr. Elmes, after devoting some of his pages to the round towers and
cromleaghs, and giving his conjectures, all of which must merge in Sir
William Betham's profound and scientific examination, to which I have
devoted some early pages, proceeds — "The architectural antiquities of
Ireland present a fine unexplored field, to which, I trust, I may have
leisure to turn more of my attention. There are ruins of between
thirty and forty abbeys of splendid architecture. Those of Jer-

POINT, AND OF THE BlACK AbbEY IN THE COUNTY OF KlLKENNY,
ARE FINER THAN ANY I EVER WITNESSED IN EnGLAND, NOT EVEN
EXCEPTING THE FAR-FAMED NeTLEY AbBEY IN HAMPSHIRE.

"Then there are their mounts, their cairns, and their caves, their round
towers, their ancient cathedrals, and the modern Baalbec — the de-
serted city of Kilmalloch, in the county of Limerick : likewise the
remains of the seven churches at Glendaloch, in the county of Wick-
low, and the bed of St. Kelvin, immortalized by the muse of the Irish
melodist, together with their cromleaghs, which rival any in England.

"A very singular specimen of ancient Irish architecture, which is cer-
tainly ONE OF THE MOST CURIOUS FABRICS IN THESE KINGDOMS, mUSt

506 CORMAC'S CHAPEL. WILLIs's OPINION.

be noticed — the stone-roofed chapel ol the ancient King Connac, at
Cashell, who was, after the patriarchal mode, both king and bishop, and
flourished about the year 900. It is a regular ecclesiastical edifice,
divided into a nave and choir, the latter narrowing its breadth, and
separated from the nave by a wide arch. Under the altar tradition
rejwrts the remains of St. Connac to be deposited. There is a strikmg
7-cscmblancc between this chapel and the church of St. Fcter, at Oxford,
ivith Grimbauld's crypts beneath ity — Elmes's Lectures. — JNow we
know St. Peter's, at Oxford, was not built until the restoration of King
Alfred, nearly a century after the erection of Cormac's Chapel. To
this magnificent testimony 1 will add that of another Englishman of
literary fame. Sir R. C. Hoare.

" The stone chapel of Cormac, at Cashell, is nowhere to be sur-
passed, and is itself a host, in point of remote and singular antiquity ;
and though her monastic architecture may fall short, both in design and
execution, to those of the sister kingdoms, [the author meant, of course,
the grand structures of England, built in the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries,] yet Ireland, in her stone-roofed chapels, round towers, and
rich stone crosses, may justly boast of singularities unknown to either of
them. Of the two crosses at Monasterboyce, they are by far the finest
examples, and the richest, in their sculpture, of any I have ever seen." —
Tour in Ireland.

As this book is chiefly written with a view of making American citi-
zens acquainted with Ireland, I shall now adduce the testimony of their
own talented Willis : " The prominent association with the name of
Ireland, to one who does not draw his ideas of the country from the
English newspapers, is that of a prolific mother of orators, warriors,
patriots, and poets. Out of sight of the froth that is thrown up from the
angry caldron of political strife, and out of hearing of the bitter con-
tentions of party spirit, the inhabitant of another country looks upon the
small space occupied by Ireland, on the map of the world, with feelings
of mingled wonder and admiration. The veil that obscures her past
glory is withdrawn ; the cloud that lowers over her social horizon melts
away ; and the distant observer, opening the volume of her mournful
history, counts the long roll of her illustrious names, and reads in those
pages of shame and sorrow — blotted by the best blood of her children
— the true character of an enthusiastic people. An undying love of
liberty, and an untamed and restless genius, make them turbulent, excita-
ble, and vindictive, under real or imaginary wrongs ; while the natural
warmth and kindness of their disposition make us willing to forget the

CORMAC'S CHAPEL. 507

faults which, under more favorable ch"cu instances, would never have had
existence. In a work like this, however, of a pictorial character, and
intended for circulation among all parties, the great question at issue in
Ireland can only be thus far adverted to ; and in recording my own ob-
servations while travelling in the country, I feel convinced that, by
avoiding the irritating topics of political and religious discussion, my
readers will journey along with me more pleasantly through the wild
and beautiful scenery of this Western Eden. Nor do I fear that we
shall tire on the way for lack of objects worthy the attention of the anti-
quary and the poet, where every valley boasts the remains of some old
abbey or monastery — the fast-decaying relics of the faded grandeur of
the ancient Irish church ; and where the romantic legends of an imagi-
native peasantry have peopled every hill-side with the fantastic and
graceful creations of Fairy-land. Let me, then, in the language of Ire-
land's favorite bard, invite those who love Nature in her wild and simple
attire, to follow me in my pilgrimage through those lovely scenes ; for

'Never did Ariel's plume,
At golden sunset, hover
O'er such scenes of bloom
As I will waft tliem over.' " *

And now let us gaze, with such emotions as our hearts may be capa-
ble of feeling, upon this miniature perspective sketch of the far-famed
CoRMAc's Chapel, erected anno 880, the oldest specimen in Europe of
true arched architecture.

I am tempted to insert here a stanza from Lord Byron's Address
to Greece, in 1809, slightly paraphrased, which applies to Ireland as
accurately as it applied to Greece ; and may be conducive in waking up
a spirit equally inimical to slavery with that called up by his lordship's
inspiriting muse: —

"£rin, how lovely, in thine age of woe,
Land of heroes, sages, godlike men, art thou!
Thy vales of evergreen, thy hills of snow,
Proclaim thee Nature's varied favorite now.
Thy shrines, thy temples, to thy surface bow,
Commingling slowly with heroic earth,
Broke with the share of every rustic plough ;
And nought remains save Avell-recorded worth,
And the proud spirit which thy race gives forthJ'^

* Scenes in Ireland.

508 IRISH STYLE. ART OF STAINING GLASS.

This singularly-beautiful church is the most perfect specimen of iho
genuine arched style in Europe. This erection was not the consequence
of any sudden light which broke in upon the nation. It could have
grown only from hundreds upon hundreds of experiments and improve-
ments, in Irish architecture, for several ages. Nor is it to be attributed
to some happy design of King Cormac, the illustrious architect. Its
varied excellences in construction ; its well-poised stone roof, so scien-
tifically balanced and cemented; its graceful arches and groins; the
columns, so chaste and rich in shaft and capital ; the carvings, so
minute and varied, — proclaim that the numerous workmen employed
were educated in a school devoted to the art. And let it be further
borne in mind, that the columns of this edifice are not copied after those
of either Greece or Rome. They appear to be a distinct order, peculiar
to Ireland.

Mr. Ehnes says that " want of knowledge in the workmen cannot
be compensated for by any skill, art, or science, in the architect.
Hence a nation must be liberal patrons of the art, and train up by
practice, experiments, and scientific teaching, her artisans, ere she can
hope to establish a national style, or a reputation for architecture."

There does not appear in this entire church a single piece of wood.
How well they understood the laws of gravity and equilibrium is attested
by the enduring edifice itself, which has lived a thousand years, and
promises to live for a thousand years to come. The arch of Cormac
will live forever ! To erect the arched architecture, requires a knowl-
edge of what the French call stereoiomy, and the nicest balancing, or
equilibrium, and calculations of gravity. The principle of construction
in the arch, as artists call it, is the very acme of architectural sci-
ence. In this even Michael Angelo failed, in the erection of the cupola
of St. Peter's. In latter years, there were discovered very serious fissures,
which were repaired by the extraordinary skill of Zahaglio, who encir-
cled the cupola with a stupendous iron chain, after the example of Sir
Christopher Wren, at St. Paul's, London.

We find, about the age which succeeded that of Cormac, that the
art of staining glass had arrived to a high degree of perfection. I will
adduce one or two illustrations from Pepper's valuable Notes, and
Brewer's Beauties of Ireland.

" The art of staining glass was carried to the highest point of perfection
by our ancient artists, as the scanty but elegant specimens still to be seen
in the cathedrals of Limerick, Kilkenny, Raphoe, Armagh, and several
other of our antique ecclesiastic edifices, amply testify. In the infancy

ART OF STAINING GLASS. 509

of the art in Ireland, in the fourth century, the process of painting glass
was very simple ; it consisted in the mere arrangement of glass, tinged
with different colors, in a symmetrical order, like the dyes delineated on
a mosaic ceiling. Our churches were adorned with stained glass win-
dows, exhibiting scriptural and martyrological history, and religious and
clerical symbols, two centuries before the church of St. Mark, in Venice,
was decorated with this species of embellishment. We are told by
Bishop Burke, in the history of the Irish abbeys, that St. Kenan's Ca-
thedral, built at Duleek,*in thecounty of Meath, A. D. 489, was enlight-
ened by stained glass windows, representing the sufferings of Christ.
In the fifth and sixth centuries, the art made rapid strides to perfection ;
the painters became more spirited in design, and more skilful and ex-
quisite in execution ; but tliough they delineated figures enlightened with
their shades, yet they could not fill up their contours with fine groupings,
or graphic elegances of detail. When they were called upon to adorn
palaces or churches, they had glass of every color of the rainbow pre-
pared, out of which they cut the pieces they wanted to fill up the
window frame or sash. But after a short lime, they discovered a more
improved method, of incorporating the colors in the glass itself, by heat-
ing it in a strong fire to the desired degree. We believe that the art is
partially lost, for the modern attempts have neither the boldness of
design nor the vivid freshness of coloring which our old abbeys and
churches yet exhibit. The atrocious myrmidons of Cromwell, after the
massacre at Drogheda, proceeded to the once magnificent abbey of
Melefont, in the county of Louth, and, in the rage of the diabolical spirit
of their fanaticism, broke and demolished the gorgeously stained glass
windows, which even the ravaging Huns of Elizabeth had spared. On
these windows, which were presented to the abbot by O'Rourke, prince
of BrefFeny, A. D. 1169, were beautifully painted, at full lengths, the
twelve apostles, the four evangelists, and the prophets of the Old Testa-
ment. Harris has asserted that, if these windows were in existence in
his day, 1763, they would be worth six thousand guineas." Pepper.

" The cathedral of St. Canice is an extensive and commanding pile,
seated on a gentle eminence, whence are obtained fine views over the
city, and along the winding banks of the River Nore. This church is of
a cruciform shape, surmounted with a low tower. The length from east
lo west is two hundred and twenty-six feet, in the clear ; and the breadth
of the cross, from north to south, one hundred and twenty-three feet.

" The eastern part of the church, comprising the choir and chancel,
is seventy-seven feet in length. The bishop's throne, the seats, and the

* Stone House.

510 chieftains' castles.

gallery, are of varnished oak ; the whole being conspicuous for a sedate
simplicity. At the east end is a very lofty window, divided into three
lights of the lancet form on the exterior, but each compartment finishing,
internally, with a trefoil head. We are informed by Ware, that Bishop
Ledred, soon after the year 1318, expended large sums in embellishing
his cathedral, and particularly in filling the windows with stained glass.
His liberality was eminently displayed in this eastern window, the paint-
ings of which represented the history of Christ, from the birth to the
ascension. Rinuncini, legate to the Catholics of Ireland during the
troubles of the seventeenth century, is said to have offered seven hundred
pounds for the glass of this window, which offev was declined ; but,
unhappily, the glass was destroyed, in 1650, by the fanatics of that
gloomy period. Some mutilated fragments were afterwards collected
by Bishop Pococke, and placed in two ovals over the western door.

" The nave is divided from its side aisles by pointed arches, unoma-
mented, and supported by pillars composed of black marble. The
side aisles are lighted by pointed windows, and the body of the church
by windows of quatrefoil shape, placed in a clerestory. In the side
aisles, and between the pillars, are numerous altar-monuments. The
long succession of these sepulchral memorials adds greatly to the impres-
sive effect of this division of the structure ; and we have rarely seen tjje
interior of an ecclesiastical building, which at the same time was so little
indebtel to architectural effort, and possessed so imperative a sway over
the feelings." — Brewer'' s Beauties of Ireland. — Killala Church, built
1160, by Daniel O'Brien, king of Limerick, a venerable pile, erected
in the form of a cross — two hundred feet in length, and in every respect
proportioned. The large, pointed, arched window, over the eastern
portal, is elaborately enriched with sculptural mouldings and ornaments.
The venerable ruin is m fine preservation, and is surrounded, like the
temples of Thebes, with countless ruins that date back before its time
several centuries. The stone cross of Tuam, a part of which still exists ;
the statues of the twelve apostles, at the cathedral of Cashell ; the
grand archway of Mellefont Abbey, and the beautiful tracery and enrich-
ments of many other ruins in Ireland, remain yet as proofs that the
ancient Irish artists carried sculpture to a perfection, in the tenth centu-
ry, "which no nation in Europe," says Pepper, ^^ could then equal."

Chieftains' castles lie about, in magnificent ruins, on every hill : to
particularize them would fill many pages : they bear date of the
eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries. The principal cathedrals
that still exist entire, which may be referred to as to the matured age of

HOLT CROSS ABBEY. 511

Insh architecture, are, besides Cormac's Chapel, built 880, — Christ's
Church, Dubhn, built 1038 ; St. Patrick's, Dublin, 1070; Holy Cross,
1110 ; and the cathedrals of Waterford, Limerick, and Cork, about 1104.
The monastic ruins of Ardfert, in the county Kerry, are amongst the
noblest in Ireland. We are told, by Colgan, that when St. Brandon
taught there, in 935, it accommodated nine hundred students, six of
whom were foreign princes ; and at the far-famed abbey of Benchoir,
there was room for three thousand.

The engraving now before the reader represents an accurate sectional
view of the interior of Holy Cross Abbey, in the county of Limerick.*
This is a specimen of the improved or pointed architecture, which,
in the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries, spread so rapidly
over Europe, from this very model. Look upon it, reader, with an
inquiring and a reverential eye. It is all, every particle, of pure cut
stone. The abbey was begun about 1080, and finished 1110, —
one hundred years before this style was introduced into continental
Europe. Examine its proportions with the eye of science, and try
— can any part of it be improved 1 You may adorn it, — you may
heap ornament upon ornament on this splendid pile; but show where
you can add one limb or feature to its architectural beauty.

All beauty in architecture, as laid down by the best authorities, must
grow from utility ; any limb, or part of a limb, put up merely for orna-
ment, is false — is tawdry. You may ornament a buttress, a jamb, a
column, a capital, an entablature, an arch, a ceiling, or a window ; but
when any of these great limbs are put up as ornaments, they become
absurd and vulgar, contrary to good taste, and proclaim the architect
incompetent. Look again, reader, upon that picture ! The men who
erected that pile are accounted barbarous. Be it so ; the day of their
vindication is coming.

* Holy Cross Abbey, according to Dr. Milner, the learned English divine, was built
in the beginning of the twelfth century, by Donald O'Brien, king of Limerick, to
receive a piece of the identical cross on which the Savior was crucified. The cross
was buried, in the reign of the emperor Adrian, under the temple of Venus, in Rome,
and dug out by the empress St. Helena, and distributed among the Christians of the
universe. The piece, about three inches long, which was brought to Ireland, was
placed in a wooden case in the form of a cross, and deposited in the altar of this
church after it was built ; where it remained till the reign of Henry the Eighth,
when, owing to the many sacrilegious acts perpetrated in that reign upon every
shrine in which aught that was held sacred by the people was deposited, it was
placed, for safety, in the custody of a member of the Kavanagh family, by whose
descendants it is still preserved.

512 HABITATIONS OF THE ANCIENT BRITONS.

We sliall now inquire into the state of architecture in Britain, Scot-
land, Wales, Germany, Italy, and France, during the early ages of
Christianity. We shall try to discover which of those nations originally
possessed the germ of that grand church architecture, which, in its ad-
vanced stages, filled the minds of the whole world with such admiration ;
— which so infatuated kings, queens, lords, and ladies, with its beauty,
that lands, crowns, jewels, and all else that men and women hold dear,
were yielded up to amplify and establish it.

The inhabitants of Britain, before Csesar's invasion, 50 B. C, lived
in caves and thickets. The caves were their winter habitations, and
places of retreat in time of war. They were formed and rendered se-
cure and warm by art, like those of the ancient Germans, as described
by Tacitus, who wrote, " They are used to dig deep caves in the
ground, and cover them with earth, where they lay up their provisions,
and dwell in winter for the sake of warmth. Into those they retire also
from their enemies, who plunder the open country, but cannot discover
these subterranean recesses." — Royal English Encyclopcedia.

Their summer houses consisted of a few stakes, wattles, and boughs
of trees ; and this was the custom in Britain down to the invasion of
Caesar. In fact, England and Germany, being the continental interior
of the newly-discovered west of Europe, bore that relation to Ireland
which the countries and inhabitants west of the Mississippi now bear
to Massachusetts or New York. Nature and history both agree in
assuring us that Ireland was the land first peopled, reclaimed, and
adorned, by the eastern tribes who moved westward in search of land
and adventure. It was the first land they met as they sailed from the
Mediterranean. Hence it was the centre from which all intellectual
light radiated on Western Europe.

The ancient Britons had no cities, according to our idea of a city.
Their dwellings, consisting of circular huts, were scattered about the
country, and generally situated at the skirt of some forest, or on the
banks of some river ; for they were governed in this matter more by the
convenience of their cattle than their own. And these remarks will
apply equally to Gaul as to Britain, and to Germany as to either.
" In those early periods of our history," says Elmes, " which are before
the Roman invasion, our ancestors appear to have had scarcely any
other dwellings than thickets, dens, and caverns ; and, according to
Tacitus and Caesar, could have been little better, in point of civilization,
than many of the recently-discovered inhabitants of the South Seas.

STONE HUTS. 513

The earliest style of architecture, practised in Britain, appears to have
been similar to that which is still used in the smaller hamlets of England,
called, by village architects, wattle and dab, being a daubing, or rude
plastering, with clay, over the chinks and crevices of the wattled walls
of their wicker-worked cabins, filling up the interstices with moss.
The roofs were formed as they are at present, with boughs of trees, and
thatched with straw, to protect the inmates from the weather. The form
of the huts was conical, with a hole in the apex or top. to admit light
and emit smoke. We can trace this simple style from the ancestors of
the polished Greeks to the aboriginal Britons ; and the villages of the
Hottentots and CafFres exhibit it to this day. What the ancient Britons
called a toivn, was merely an enclosure, by a sort of circular ditch and
mound, of a tract of woody land ; within which an assemblage of huts,
of the above description, was erected, to protect themselves and cattle
from the incursions of border tribes ; for the inhabitants of the island
were then divided into about forty contending tribes.

" Stone huts, in imitation of the ' wattle and dab,' were erected in the
course of time, circular in their plan, and conical in their elevation, with
circular apertures at the top ; so that, what was a mansion among the
ancient Britons, and served the noblest of our ancestors for withdrawing-
rooras, boudoirs, parlors, &ic., would make an excellent, though small-
sized, tile-kiln of the present day." — Elmes's Lectures, 354. — When
Caractacus, the old British chief and monarch, was taken captive, and
sent in triumph to Rome, he exclaimed, as he gazed in wonder on their
palaces, " How is it that a people having such houses can envy my
humble cottage in Britain?" During the occupation of Britain by the
Romans, we are told they built many towns and cities, besides the great
wall to keep out the Picts and Irish. The latter monument is the
principal remnant that remains of their erections. We are told the
Roman wall was fortified with several hundred military towers, at
short distances from each other, like those on the great wall of
China. These were battered down by the hardy bands under
O^Neill and Dathy, who drove the Roman eagles out of Britain.
Their wooden towns have all perished. That immense pile of an-
tiquity, Stonehenge, in Wiltshire, is not of Roman erection ; the con-
jecture of the antiquarians is, that it is the remains of a colossal
Druid temple, raised and destroyed anterior to the recollection of
history or tradition. Neither Gildas nor Bede allude to it, though both
lived within forty miles of it.

The Anglo-Saxons, who succeeded the Romans as conquerors in
Britain, were the greatest enemies to architecture. They battered
65

514 ARCHITECTURE OF THE PICTS.

down every town and castle which the Romans erected ; and both
" Saxon and Briton were again," say the chroniclers, " obliged to resort
to dens, caves, and thickets, for shelter."

This loas the condition of England in the fifth and sixth cen-
turies.

" The truth is," say the English editors of The Royal Encyclo-
paedia, — " The truth is, that the Anglo-Saxons, at their arrival in this
island, [Britain,] were almost totally ignorant of those arts, and, like
all the other nations of Germany, had been accustomed to live in
wretched hovels built of wood or earth, or covered with straw or the
branches of trees ; nor did they much improve in the knowledge of
architecture for two hundred years after their anival, (A. D. 670.)
During that period, masonry was quite tmknown and unpractised in
this island, and the walls even of cathedral churches were built of
wood."

" There does not seem to have been so much as one church of stone,
nor any artists who could build one, in all Scotland, at the beginning
of the eighth century ; for Naitan, king of the Picts, in his famous
letter to Ceolford, abbot of Weremouth, A. D. 710, earnestly entreats
him to send him some masons to build a church of stone in his king-
dom, which he promises to dedicate to the honor of the apostle Peter,
to whom the abbey of Weremouth was dedicated ; and we are told by
Bede, who was then living in that abbey, that the reverend abbot
granted this pious request, and sent masons according to his desire."

There are found, in Scotland, two or three circular stone buildings, in
a state of complete ruin, which resemble large lime-kilns, with stories
of windows up to the top, at which the walls nearly close together :
these were evidently built in the age of the round towers by the first
Milesian adventurers, or by some of the Firbolgs, or even earlier tribes^
(from the valley of the Nile,) that preceded them.

The vitrified forts, to be found in the Highlands of Scotland, were
evidently erected by the ancient Irish Dalriadians, who first peopled
Scotland. It is nonsense to attribute them to the Romans, who were
never suffered by their indomitable enemies to build any thing north of
the great wall. The fact that the stones were fastened together by
vitrification, viz., melted into one another by the action of fire, and
not by mortar or cement, proves the degree of science which, in
remote ages, prevailed in the parent country, Ireland.

"In other parts of this island, [Britain,] architecture was, as might
naturally be imagined, in a still less flourishing state. It appears, indeed,

ANCIENT ITALIAN ARCHITECTURE. 515

to have been almost entirely lost among the posterity of the ancient
Britons, after they retired to the mountains of Wales. The chief palace
of the king of Wales, where the nobility and wise men assembled for
making laws, was called White Palace, because the walls of it were woven
with white wands, which had the bark peeled off. Even the castles of
Wales, at this period, [eighth and ninth centuries,] that were built for
the security of the country, appear to have been constructed of the
same materials ; for the old laws required the king's vassals to come to
the building of these castles with no other tools but an axe." — Royal
English EncyclopiBdia.

If we open the early histories of France, we shall see nought but
ignorance, wretchedness, and the grossest incivilization prevail in that
country, from the third to the seventh century. The condition of
wretchedness and ignorance to which the Roman emperors Diocletian
and Maximilian had reduced the Gauls, in the third century, was not
in the slightest degree alleviated by their next masters, the Franks,
who rushed in upon them, in the sixth century, from the wild, uncivilized
forests of Germany. The chiefs of these latter bands are described to
us as " ferocious," and their serfs " slavish and ignorant."

In Italy, architecture was completely destroyed by the Goths, —
savages from the north of Germany, — who sacked Rome, A. D. 412
to 460. Ignorance, brutality, revenge, destroyed nearly all the beau-
tiful structures ; and, in the succeeding two or three centuries, the
Saracens destroyed all the Christian edifices, and even those of the
ancient treasury of arts, — the beautiful Italian cities Messina and
Cuma. Roman architecture, which flourished from Augustus to the
time of Hadrian, declined about the third century ; and, during four or
five hundred years, the taste for building grew barbarously worse in
that country. ( Whittington, p. 3.) Nearly all the churches built by
Constantine and the early Christians about and immediately following
his time, have been pulled down and rebuilt. One old church, " St.
Paul's," of the latter end of the fourth century, yet exists outside the walls
of Rome; it is entirely walled; the windows are very small. Some
others of the fifth century yet remain, described by Whittington as
mean and without taste, but not one of them is in the pointed style.
Architecture continued in a depressed state through Italy nearly five
hundred years.

The Italians, long before the fall of Rome, gave up the study of
architecture, or its prosecution, and must have long before forgotten how
to erect arched stone roofs ; for the old church of St. Peter's, at Rome,

«•

516 EUROPE FROM THE FOURTH TO THE EIGHTH CENTURY.

was covered with gilt bronze tiles, roofed with wood, the timbers un-
covered, and above them were laid layers of shingles. I do not deny
but that the Italian Christians, in the fifth and sixth centuries, erected
churches of a peculiar style, of mixed orders ; but they clearly were
not of that pointed and arched style which I claim for Ireland, and to
establish which my general arguments are directed. I defy any man
to point out one Italian church, or ruin, or even the authentic draught
of one, of an age ranging between the first and the eighth centuries,
which bears the germ of, or a resemblance to, pointed architecture.

Now, then, having cleared away all the rotten pretensions to pointed
ARCHITECTURE sct up for the ancient Saxons, Germans, French, Italians,
Welsh, or Scotch, I shall, like a true workman, lay the foundation of
our prior claim to that style wide and deep in the minds of the un-
prejudiced and the enlightened.

Every architect, every artist, every scholar, will at once admit that
great public edifices, whether civil, military, or ecclesiastical, and the
richly-constructed palaces of princes and wealthy men, can alone come
under the denomination of " architecture." In the erection of all such
edifices, a knowledge of arithmetic, geometry, and mathematics, — of the
laws of gravity and equilibrium, — of chemistry and the nature of
metals, — is absolutely required, not only in the master-workman, hut in
his men ; and this remark applies more especially to the erection of
arched Irish architecture ; in the whole of which, as we have shown,
nothing but stone -is used, even to the window frames, mullions, and
diminutive intersections. The starting of those stone arches from side
walls, and buttresses, and columns ; the intersecting of them, again and
again, with flying arches of the same solid material ; the poising in
the air hundreds of tons of stones, supporting one another by the
nicest calculated powers of gravity and equilibrium, — poising and
binding them together, that the shocks of a thousand years are not suffi-
cient to disturb ; — these are requirements which such semi-savage
tribes as the inhabitants of the continent of Europe, in the fourth, fifth,
sixth, and seventh centuries, did not, it is admitted, possess. They
could not write, and knew nothing of mathematical calculations. Men
living in a semi-savage state are slow to bend the mind to study.
Ages and ages pass over the heads of an ignorant race before they can
be brought to the condition of learners, reasoners, thinkers, or calculators.

Architecture could not have grown amongst the inhabitants of
the west of Europe until they were first educated, because it is the
result of a combination of learned acquirements. And now let us

IRISH MONKS THE ARCHITECTS OF EUROPE. 517

look back upon those pages I have already devoted to the splendid
labors of the Irish missionaries through every state of Western Europe,
from the fifth to the ninth century, when swarms of educated monks
went out of Ireland in every dii'ection, carrying with them knowledge,
piety, and industry, which they devoted, agreeably to the precepts of
iheir religion, to the exaltation of their fellow-men.

Every architect and scholar knows that these monks were the work-
men who built all the churches of Europe for five hundred years ; they
were the architects, the masons, the carpenters, the plumbers, the
smiths, glass-makers, sculptors, painters. A great many societies of
these holy men joined together for the purpose of erecting churches
and bridges, from motives of pure charity to others, in obedience to a
strong religious feeling : of course this is incredible to the great masses
of vulgarity, who continue to call the monks " lazy," in defiance of the
literary and scientific monuments they have left behind. But scholars
know that the stone bridges and churches through Europe, which were
erected before the tenth century, were all built by the hands, and under
the direction, exclusively, of the monks ; nay, more, there was not a
single want of mankind, or a mode by which they could be benefited,
that these calumniated men did not combine into associations to supply.
Were youth to be educated, they were the teachers ; were books to
be written, or translated, or multiplied, they performed the work ; were
the poor to be relieved, they were the almoners ; were the sick to be
tended, they were the physicians and visitors ; were widows and orphans
to be provided for, the monks were their guardians ; were travellers to
be protected, guided, and entertained in the midst of wildernesses, and
on the tops of mountains, the monks formed associations to perform
this humane duty ; were bridges to be erected over impassable fords and
rivers, these men combined to build them — the noblest bridge in all
Europe, that of Avignon, over the Rhine, was erected by the labor and
collections of these charitable monks : were churches, monasteries, and
schools, to be built, they formed into holy brotherhoods for the purpose.
If this be not true, then the history of Europe is a huge lie ! Tho
society of Freemasons, for the building of bridges, roads, &c. &c.,
was first heard of in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and wa^
established by one of those religious orders, though it has long sinci^.
ceased to huiJcl.

Now, we shall trace the Irish monks, step after step, through
Europe, erecting churches and forming religious congregations every
where throuo;h that continent.

518 FIRST MONASTERIES ERECTED IN ENGLAND BY IRISHMEN.

The first Christian edifice erected for divine worship, in England, was
built by Irish architects at Withtrn, anno 603. " For the Anglo-Saxons,"
says Bede, " were partly converted to Christianity by Irish missionaries
before the -arrival of St. Austin, in 597." The same architects, who
built Withern, were then employed to build old St. Paul's, in London,
in 610, on the site of the temple of Diana. We have the authority of
Turner, and other English historians, to say that St. Wilfrid, bishop of
York, who built the church of Hexham, in 674, sent to Ireland for
architects to construct it. In fact, as Dr. Johnson remarks, " Ireland
was then the school of the west, in every art and science ; " and to her
taste and authority, in matters of style, the Saxons and Goths of Eng-
land and Germany cheerfully deferred.

Dr. Milner, an Englishman, remarks, " Can we suppose that the
tutors of the English, French, and Germans, in the learned lau'
guages, the sciences, and music, as the Irish are known to have been
during four centuries, were incapable to build plain round towers
of stone ? " And the doctor might have added, the most finished
temples of arched and pointed architecture. In the Island of Hy,
(lona,) St. Columbe Kille and his Irish monks built that famous monas-
tery, from which the north of England was instructed in architecture,
literature, and Christianity ; for there were several monasteries erected in
connection with the house of Hy, and after the same model. The
style of that architecture, as noticed by the writer in the London
Athenceum, whom I have quoted, is " directly connected with the archi-
tecture of Ireland." " The monastery of Lindisfarne was built," says
the Royal English Encyclopaedia, " by Irishmen, under St. Finan, in
the beginning of the sixth century." It was built of split oak, but the
shape was afterwards imitated in stone. The abbey of Malmesbury
was founded and built by the L'ish monk Maildulphus, in the seventh
century. It is the oldest existing building in England of that style,
and, according to the English Elmes, displays all the main features of
arched architecture, which is now called Gothic. The English Turner,
in his History of Arts and Sciences, says, " Aldhelm had continued his
studies at Malmesbury, where Maildulphus, an Irishman, had founded
a monastery." * — Vol. II .

* At this very monastery it was that the Irish missionaries first presented to the
illiterate Saxons the rudiments of literature, science, architecture, and music, and
even the very forms of the letters used in writing the English language to this day.

IRISH ARCHITECTS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 519

Gallus, an Irish monk, built the monastery of St. Gall, in Switzerland,
in connection with which several other monasteries afterwards subsisted,
about anno 630. Dichuill, an Irish monk, built the monastery o^Luttwa,
in France, and received grants of land from the French monarch Clotaire
the Second, anno 650. The monastery Centula, in Pontheed, was
built by Caidoc, to whom a splendid tomb was erected, on which was
engraved, with golden letters, the following : " To whom Ireland
gave birth, and the Gallic land a grave." St. Fursa, from Ireland,
built the monastery of Lagny, near the River Marne, in France, anno
650. In Brabant, the brothers of St. Fursa, Ultan and Foillan,
built a monastery about the same time, which was long called the
Monastery of the Irish." St. Fridolin fixed himself and his monks on
the then uninhabited island in the Rhine, called Seckingen, where he
built a monastery, anno 590. The Prince Dagobert, of Strasburg,
in the seventh century, who, like many of the German and Saxon
princes, was educated in Ireland, brought with him several Irish monks,
who built churches throughout his dominions. The Irish Virgilius
raised the splendid Basali of Saltzburg, anno 750.

The great church of Europe, erected by Charlemagne, at Aix-la-
chapelle, was built by Irish monks brought from the abbey of St. Gall ;
and the chief architect, feeling a deep veneration for the old round
towers of his native country, erected one of the same kind, in connec-
tion with the church, in the very heart of Europe, — the only one,
indeed, to be found throughout that continent.

The most distinguished specimen of old Gothic architecture, in
Portugal, is the church of the convent of Batallia, which was con-
structed by AN Irish architect. — See Hoskings, in Adams's
and Black's Arts, Edinburgh edition, page 21.

Here are proofs, and I have many more, that in Scotland. England,
Germany, France, and Portugal, the Irish monks erected generally the
first Christian churches and monasteries. The very forms of those
churches, so closely modeled after the erections in their native land,
wonderfully coincide. And when we add to all this the swarms
of foreigners from every part of Europe, who came to Ireland, for four
or five centuries, to be educated, and who returned to their own coun-
tries with vivid impressions of her architecture and science, we account
for the spread of the Irish style of building in so rapid and general a
manner throughout Europe.

" Who, SIR," says the English Dr. Milner, " were the lumina-
ries OF the western world when the SUN of science had

ALMOST SET UPON IT ? WhO WERE THE INSTRUCTORS OF NATIONS,

520 DR. milner's opinion.

DURING FOUR WHOLE CENTURIES, BUT THE IrISH CLERGY ? To THEM
YOU ARE INDEBTED FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE BlBLE, THE
FATHERS, AND THE CLASSICS ; IN SHORT, OF THE MEANS BY WHICH
YOU YOLTISELVES HAVE ACQUIRED WHATEVER LITERATURE YOU POS-
SESS."

" Gildas, the first British historian, studied for a long time, in the
sixth century, at St. Patrick's Seminary, at Armagh, as did Agilbert,
the French divine, in the succeeding century, who was the second
bishop of the West Saxons. Soon after this, we find great numbers of
our countrymen, poor as well as rich, flocking to Ireland as to a general
mart of literature. At length, a I'esidence in Ireland, like a residence
now at a university, was considered as almost essential to establish a
literary character.

" I cannot forbear quoting from Camden the lines which he extracted
from the Life of St. Sulgenius, who flourished in the eighth century : —

*Exemplo patrum, commotus aniore legendi,
Ivit ad Hibernos, sopliia mirabile claros.' " *

Such, in fact, was the case, and, to come to the point, we chal-
lenge Europe to show so old and such beautiful specimens of the
arched and pointed architecture, as we can show in these two churches
I have adduced, namely, Cormac's Chapel, built 880, and Holy Cross,
built 1110, and in others, which are falling to ruin.

" Stone buildings," says the Royal Encyclopaedia, " were very rarely
built in England in the eighth and ninth ages. When any such
buildings were erected, they were the objects of much admiration,"
(wonder.)

" When Alfred the Great, towards the end of the ninth century,
iormed the design of rebuilding his ruined cities, churches, and monas-
teries, he was obliged to bring many of his artificers from foreign
countries." The church of St. Peter's, at Oxford, built by him, is so
evidendy a copy from Cormac's Chapel, of Cashell, that we need but
point the artist's eye to the form and features of both, to ascertain from
whence Alfred, who was educated in Ireland, drew his architects,
artisans, and models.

" It was not till after the Norman conquest that the English began
to build generally with stone arches. Stoive relates that Mauritius,
bishop of London, about the eleventh century, began the foundation of
the new church of St. Paul upon arches of stone — a manner of work
unknown to the English."

* Letters of Dr. Milner from Ireland; Letter L 1808.

• SALISBURY CATHEDRAL MODELED AFTER HOLY CROSS. 521

In the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries, all London was
built of wood, and covered with reeds and thatch ; and there is still, or
was, not long ago, the remnant of one of these preserved for its singular
antiquity, and converted into a tavern, called the " Thatched-house
Tavern." The old " Bow Church " of London, built 1077, was so
called because it was built upon the new principles of arches of stone,
and was, therefore, called St. Mary-/e-6oi^. And Stradford Bridge, the
first stone arched bridge built in England, was, from the same circum-
stance, called Stradford-/e-6oM>. See Stoive's Survey.

After the Norman conquest, WiUiam and his son Rufus, to occupy
the minds of the people, began in every direction the building of grand
churches, in the pointed style.

A short time before Murchard O'Brien's death, William Rufus sent
to request he would allow him to cut timber in the Irish forests.
" The fair green, or commune," says Hanmer, " now called Ostmon-
town Green, was all wood ; and bee that diggith, at this day, to any
depth, shall finde the ground full of great rootes. From thence, anno
1098, King WiUiam Rufus, by license of Murchard, had that frame
which made up the roofe of Westminster Hall, where no English spider
wehheth or breedeth to this day.''^ — Chronicle of England.

Salisbury Cathedral is the first complete erection in the pointed arched
style that was built in England, finished in 1258, evidently after the
style of Holy Cross, in Ireland, which was built one hundred and
fifty years previously.

Painted glass was not introduced into England until about the year
1250, nor generally till 1400, though it was common in Ireland four
hundred years before. The windows of the cathedrals then began
to be enlarged, divided into several lights by stone muUions, run
ning into ramifications above, which were filled v/ith painted representa-
tions, on the glass, of saints, martyrs, kings, which made, says an old
writer, " a most glorious history."

It will not do to tell us, that this arched and pointed architecture, was
introduced to Europe by the crusaders or the knights templars. They
had it in Ireland in the ninth and tenth centuries, whereas the cru-
saders did not return from the East till the twelfth ; nor were the knights
templars established until 1148; and the first church they built was
their own, at Paris, 1222, which was paid for by their treasurer.

Nor can this style be credited to the Saracens, as some have very
unlearnedly done ; for Elmes and others tell us that the oldest specimens
of this style, of Saracen origin, which can be referred to, are the walls
66

522

CHARACTER OF IRISH ARCHITECTURE.

of Alexandria, built in 878 by the Caliph Montatowakkel. There are
some buildings, in the East, of the twelfth century, erected by the
Sultan Saladin, (whose real name was Joseph.) The Moorish build-
ings in this style are few and poor, and the dates of their erection uncer-
tain. There are no buildings of this character to be found in the
East of a date any thing so early as those to be found in Ireland. If
there be, let them be pointed out, and proof of their age be given.

After the conquest of Constantinople by the Mahometans, in the
fifteenth century, every mosque was constructed in imitation of the
Christian churches, to which they added adornments of their own, con-
sisting of slender, lofty minarets, diversified in style and ornament by
each succeeding sultan. Wherever the army of the Mahometans
triumph, they convert the Christian churches into mosques for their own
use. This was the case in Portugal and Spain. It is undeniable that
in Asia Minor, Syria, Arabia, Persia, and on to India, the pointed arch
may be seen occasionally. But they are modern erections.

The Irish cannot claim the honor of originating the arch and column,
which were in use in Phoenicia and Egypt before Ireland was probably
inhabited ; but, as he who improves an invention is, to a certain extent,
to be deemed an inventor himself, so the Irish, having brought the arch
and column to the highest degree of architectural development, con-
sistent with real beauty, and as no other nation can show claims, equal-
ing theirs, to that honor, so they must be deemed the originators of that
style which, from the eighth to the fourteenth century, was adopted
by all Europe, and carried to such extraordinary degrees of refine-
ment.

If the structures of Ireland were not as colossal as those of her
neighbors, it should be remembered that they built them from their own
resources, and by their own labor. The palaces of pagan Rome were
built by the captives she dragged thither from all countries, and by the
plunder of defenceless and unoffending nations. Most of the great
temples of Europe were raised by leaning on communities distant
from the place of their erection ; but Ireland never built her temples
by the pillage of any nation. Her churches and temples are compara-
tively small ; but, then, how beautiful they are ! They were built to
worship in them the true God. Their aspect, as they look down
upon us in placid grandeur, is sublime. Every aisle, every column,
arch and porch, every window, proclaim them houses of prayer.
A New Zealander, or Hottentot, if brought into one of these ruins,
would pronounce it a house of the " Great Spirit."

CHARACTER OF IRISH ARCHITECTURE. 523

The Grecian was the style for state or revelry, the Irish for prayer.
The elements of the Irish are spires, pinnacles, lofty arched and pointed
windows, and elevation, as opposed to the square, angular, flat, and
horizontal style of the Greeks.

" It is difHcult," says the Royal English Encyclopaedia, " for the
noblest Grecian temple to convey half so many impressions on the
mind as a cathedral does, of the best Gothic [Irish] character — a proof
of skill in the architects and priests who erected them. The latter
exhausted their knowledge of the passions in composing edifices whose
pomp, mechanism, vaults, tombs, painted windows, and perspectives,
infused such sensations of exalted devotion. We must have taste to be
sensible of the beauties of Grecian architecture. We only want
passions to feel and appreciate those of Gothic, [Irish.] In St. Peter's
or St. Paul's, we are convinced they were built by great princes. In
the cathedrals of Gothic [Irish] construction, we think not of the
builders, but of religion."

In truth, Ireland, before her fall in the twelfth century, brought this
arched and pointed style to the highest desirable point of perfection,
uniting in itself the three great essentials in architecture, strength, grace,
and richness.

During the reigns of the first three Henrys of England, the angles
of the arch were formed very acute, and the arch, if it could be so
called, was hardly discernible. During the reigns of the first three
Edwards, the arch was formed by an equilateral triangle, running from
the points where the arch sprang, to its key-stone. During the period
from Henry the Sixth to Henry the Eighth, the arch of the roofs and
windows was brought down again to Cormac's standard. Dr. Whar-
ton described three changes in style, as stages in this style of architec-
ture, viz., the simple, the ornamental, and i\\e jlorid.

In the sixteenth century, during the reign of Elizabeth, when the
leaders of the reformation had seized upon the temples, colleges, and
monasteries, of Ireland and England, and the lands attached to them,
— when they would cry down the former occupants of these venerable
dwellings, and when, indeed, they blew up many of them from the
foundation with gunpowder, — then the Irish style of building was
cried down. Sir William Wotton wrote against it. He called it
Gothic, which word meant, in England, any thing ruffianly or
savage. Sir Christopher Wren, the English architect of the seven
teenth century, called this style " a gross concameration of heavy,

524

ITALIAN ARCHITECTS INVITED TO ENGLAND.

melancholy, and monkish piles." How intellectual (his man was ! It
was he who frowned upon Westminster Abbey, St. Stephen's Chapel,
York Minster, and Salisbury Cathedral, and who, when he attempted
to imitate this style, made so many blunders. See his works in this
line, and those of Inigo Jones, in Lincoln's Inn Chapel, the steeple at
Warwick, King's Bench in Westminster, he.

Italian architects were about this time encouraged to come into
England, to construct ecclesiastical buildings upon new principles.
There was no new principle in architecture, but there were some com-
pounds which prevailed in parts of the continent, especially in Venice
and Rome. These compounds were classed in five orders by the
Romans, and revived by Palladio, the Italian writer, about the six-
teenth century, and were introduced into England by Inigo Jones soon
after. The style of architecture changed in England with each new
class of religious reformers. The Roundheads knocked down the
erections of Elizabeth and Charles. These were again scouted at the
restoration of Charles the Second, and from that period to the time of
George the First, all was a blank in English architecture.

In Ireland, during that long period of tears and blood, — a period
which stains the blackest annals of humanity, — no progress was made in
architecture ; no progress, alas ! in any thing but the works of confisca-
tion and blood. Her venerable piles were battered down by the
cannon of Elizabeth and Cromwell. But towards the middle of
the eighteenth century, Ireland began again to put forth her archi-
tectural skill. Her classic soil, studded over by the mouldering ruins of
her greatness, afforded her men of genius schools and models for the de-
sign and construction of piles of modern beauty. From the very day that
Molyneux emitted the spark of nationality in his celebrated " Inquiry,"
(even one man can rouse and elevate a nation,) the architectural genius
of Ireland budded forth anew. In 1727, the Parliament-House o°f Ire-
land was commenced. It was completed in 1787, and is esteemed the
most perfect and beautiful Ionic structure in Europe. The architects
were Irish, and so were the workmen.* The Dublin Custom-House
was commenced in 1787. This is considered the most beautiful public
building in the British empire. It is raised in a very grand Doric
style, surmounted by a magnificent dome, and the interior groined with
arches. It covers two Irish acres. The Four Courts, the Royal Ex-
change, and the Rotunda, are all, in their way, unequalled in the British

* A front view of this noble structure will be found at the end of this lecture.

IRISH ARCHITECTS OF THE PRESENT DAY. 525

dominions. They were Irishmen who designed and erected all but
one of those splendid monuments of genius and freedom. These
national structures grew up in Ireland under the sunshine of her native
parliament. The old ones, that smile on us with the wisdom of a
thousand years, grew up under her kings. They are all the growth of
a NATION, the symbols of a nation, and the trumpets which call the
lifeless into action for their restoration to national purposes.

The Irish architects of the present day are not inferior to their coun-
trymen of any age, as evidenced by the living artists now at the head
of the profession in Ireland, England, and Ainerica.

As I have made no claim, in this entire work, in behalf of my
countrymen, without having substantial grounds for it, so, when I allege
that Irishmen are at the head of the profession of architects in England
and America, I mean to prove it. When, about five years ago, the
Parliament House of England was burned to the ground, a committee
of the House of Commons was appointed to superintend the erection
of a new one ; designs and specifications were advertised for by that
committee ; three hundred designs and plans were sent them by as
many aspirants for the honor. These plans came from architects of
every European nation. To the honor of Ireland, the preference was
given to the plan of Mr. Barry, a native of the south of Ireland ; and
the execution of the work was accordingly placed under his super-
intendence.

The most beautiful piece of architecture on the surface of America
is the St. Charles Hotel, in New Orleans. This has been admitted by
hundreds of thousands of the natives of this country. It was erected, in
1837, by a joint stock' company, at a cost of nine hundred thousand
dollars ; and its architect, who is still living, is an excellent Irishman,
Mr. Gallier, {Gallagher,^ of New Orleans. The White House, at
Washington, was erected by an Irish architect, Mr. Hoban, father of
the learned and eloquent lawyer, J. Hoban, Esquire, of that city. And
here, in Boston, I find the granite front of the Exchange has been
elegantly sculptured by another of my countrymen, named Barry.

I have seen the brilliant monuments of their genius in many of the
railroads and canals of Pennsylvania and New York. The invention
of Mr. John Dougherty, for taking boats, full of merchandise and
passengers, out of the canal, carrying them over the Alleghany Moun-
tains, and lodging them safely in the Western Canal, is surely one of the
greatest inventions of modern times. The stupendous works between
Philadelphia and Pottsville, and the magnificent locks at Lockport^

526 IRISH ARCHITECTS OF THE PRESENT DAT.

on the Erie Canal, erected under the scientific superintendence of Irish-
men, are evidence that the unextinguishable genius of Ireland has been
transmitted, in the buoyant blood of her children, to the present gener-
ation, and cause me to exclaim, in the language of one of her brightest
sons in exile, John Augustus Shea, —

"Well may ye exult o'er the tyrannous slaves

Who, crushing your freedom, would rob ye of fame ;
Would curse the fair sunlight that blesses your waves,
And deny ye, 'mid nations, tlie right of a name.

" Look down with contempt on their impotent hate !

Show the world tliat beholds ye, that, even in chains,
Far more of the genius that raaketh men great.
With you, than with tkem in their gloiy, remains.

"When the Saxon, degraded and trampled, lay down,
And trembled to every foeman that came,*
The universe rang with your lofty renown.

And Fancy stood mute in the light of your fame.

" Disdaining the barriers, — fetters and fire.

And malice and prejudice, — all that could bind,
With what strength does Hiberma still upward aspire.
Supreme in the proud competition of mind !

"Day by day do thy great ones go down to the grave,
But thy genius expires not ; but soars like the morn,
When it rises, pavilioned in light, from the wave.
As glorious as though but that moment 'twere bom.

"Where, where through the universe, varied and vast.
Can empire, or kingdom, or nation, present
Such genius as even in bondage thou hast.

Which brightened, like sunlight, wherever it went?

"By reedy Eurotas no braver e'er trod.

When Greece, 'gainst all Persia, stood up in her pride,
And Pallas awoke in each bosom a god.

Than at Liberty's summons can rise at thy side.

" Nor e'er did Castalia's fountain of song
More soul-stirring rapture of melody pour,
Than beareth the spirit of Erin along

In the music and light of the genius of Moore.

* Nee fult inventus quispiam qui hostibus obviaret. — Matthew of Westminster.

POEM OF JOHN AUGUSTUS SHEA. 5^7

"And Painting and Sculpture live, breatlie, at thy will;
And the Drama, which mankind's dark history unscrolls,
Which readeth our hearts with mysterious skill;
The Priest of her Universe Temple, is Knowles.

"And doth it not quicken the pulse and tlie blood
Of an Irishman's heart, to remember the day
When Grattan, Burke, Sheridan, Curran, and Flood,
In supremacy shone — a refulgent array ?

"In poetry, eloquence, learning, our land

Retaineth her empire, and these shall live on.
Like the nature-built ramparts that circle her strand,

When tlie whirlwinds that sweep round her glory are gone.

There's a cheering vitality o'er and within

Her children and her, that defietli decay;
And what may we hope not from that which has been,

Which no treasure could buy, and no Judas betray ?

"But who can look over the billows' bright foam.
And cast his glad eyes on that cluster of men
Who are struggling to give back to Erin a home, —
A dwelling for orators, jurists, — again; —

"But must feel that the days of her glory return,
Revived by O'Connell, O'Brien, O'Neill;
O, cold is the heart that won't vividly bum,
In patriot flame, for the cause of repeal.

"Then, Erin, exult o'er the tyrannous slaves

Who, crushing your freedom, would rob you of fame;
Would curse the fair sunlight tliat blesses yoiu* waves,
And deny ye, 'mid nations, the right of a name."

528

MUSIC AND POETRY.

LET ERIN REMEMBER THE DAYS OF OLD.

BY MOORE.

Grand and Spirited.

-^-e-

-~~i — J

1. Let E - rin re-mem-ber the days of old,

ifZdzzz ~~r 1 — 9 1

Ere her faith - less sons be - trayed her; When

^i=J

-1 ) i^

9~^ — ^

"S?~

lz»

—^ —

5- "~ ^

rtiiziip

Mai - a - chy wore the col - lar of gold,* Which he

"6-P=P=F

~Gi ,

won from her proud in - va

:H^-n'-r-t

der.

When her

:n.

lBBBi^aHr~

* " This brought on an encounter between Malachy, the monarch of Ireland, in
the tenth century, and the Danes, in which Malachy defeated two of their cham-

MUSIC AND POETRY.

529

-P

kings, with stand - ard of green un - furled, Led the

--f^

'r~

em - erald gem of tlie west - ern

world

8-7=^

F— ^=q==d

** — ^-

ti^Ep

Was set

— N-

the crown of

stran - ger.

'¥-'-

l^alS

2.
On Lough Neagh's bank, as the fisherman strays,*
When the clear, cold eve's declining,

pions, whom he encountered successively, hand to hand, — taking a collar of gold
from the neck of one, and carrying off the sword of the other, as trophies of his
victory." — Warner's History of Ireland, vol. i. book 9.

* It was an old tradition, in the time of Giraldus, that Lough Neagh had been
originally a fountain, by whose sudden overflowing the country was inundated, and
a whole region, like the Atlantis of Plato, overwhelmed. He says that the fisher-
men, m clear weather, used to point out to strangers the tall ecclesiastical towers
under the water.

5S0

MUSIC AND POETRY.

He sees the round towers of other days
In the wave beneath him shining!

Thus shall memory often, in dreams sublime,
Catch a glimpse of the days that are over;

Thus, sighing, look through the waves of time
For the long-faded glories they cover!

YOUGHALL HARBOR.

r-#-

"O •'t»-

t^-

■3 i I ^"" ^S"^*ZJ?"

-r-r-r-r--FF=^

~"#~i — \ — 1 \0~^~jir.i — I — I — I —

±zii?:jz:rizc»Tt?f&f:f^ri#r

'd^

-j I r~r

^-«

gli

(9 .m (» r »

'W^n l*"r

^-^,

r-^-

^ »

-\ — I — r~

I r

:P2EtiES^§:

-~r--\ — r

MUSIC.

531

THE LAMENTATION OF CONNAUGHT.

(gair na conactnac.)

«z^#:

"PT^r"^ rj — 1^

rfr

DZJ

Lrp:i_^#|?_

■l^^-f-rn

tet^iP

115

i<s-=--

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>» 1"

-tir-^^-

:fe:in\r

V^i

-#-1>

q— FTR'

-#-

^nz]-nn:D=iiz: linirTi^zp

T~^-l-| — •^

r^Ei^s

>-nV

•*^zr#r^:

ID — ^^

J r

532

MUSIC.

THE YOUTH WITH THE FAIR FLOWING LOCKS.

(CAIL FIONN, OR COULIN.)

-I — U^

5£5^^

i^^ifr:

.-J

g — h<r'

r#"

;y»-^f

^^U^

'I r r-ri — rpri — riir^f'
T;-rTiiirxlT "I — f — r^T"

f-r

-^r-p»

i^£^

-(S>'-

THE HUMORS OF LEINSTER,

(SPECA GAXLLINAC.)

^4~S?

rfl-

'S?'

:^^^^^

'#"

-S)'-

~«5~

f^i—

"DH"

""szir^:

r-i— f1-

:sz3'i

^*:

"Q-^ — r — i=a=q~g-T-g^ i^-r-f"! — «"

^^ rziml-pFr^g^:nii±nz:gznn:
@— ^L-^^ — rr|:rpr^#g,|igzjg_,gn

-, — f\~

^pStris,

MUSIC.

533

JACKSON'S DELIGHT.

±-_-2r-i--r:-i>»-

iin — inn"

rri rrr^

:£rp^

r-#-

-fm-

F^^^^
—w^

r-#-

^pSiF^^F^feF^'PfFr^

(90 »m

"I — ~£

"FT

I I rr~

"vrv

~^ ^

ROKEBY, OR CAPTAIN WYAKE.

rrr.

0 I w

JV_

?Z=I)^-!zr

:?«

izrrtszzc

D^~^:

3^^i

f— r

^^^-F^^

1 g"

irrr

D*rp~i*

rrr~fry

TTi I I r

1 suzz^'

"1^ ^"

-i— ^-;^— t^

J r

"rrr'

rn rrsp-
"rri rrr~

R^n>^ZfF

**•

534

MUSIC.

I rrr^

?E5

??p=

:rr[

:ffl

jiCr

^w Da Capo.

-| rrr

WOOD'S LAMENTATION.

BY CAROLAN.

-#-

:;^i#

tzt

I I r

rzr^ ^ n r

'I r

r — — rr'r~i — f ^

SS^Ii^

-1— 1^^

□JXZX

FpHg^EpEggJEEEjg

I r

:i^

JT^W^-

1 I

IJT

Tf"rr

TTTT

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— I I — -^ — r-n

'^zr

ZZZir

r^#-4

gpri I r crrrrzB^zirc:

rru — I — 1 —

ff'-f^H-^

"c — I
'g~ri

"rrri — rrr

"I ar"#i»r

T~rr

-rrn — ^rrr-r* — ^ — rrri — • —

MUSIC AND POETRY.

EILEEN A ROON,

B=?=

^^^£^E^-=~=f

fs* — =■

1. Blind to all else but thee, Ei - leen a Roon

Roon ; My ears ban - quet on thy praise,

My dove of all the grove thou art ; With

1^^=15^

:fc:

P£

Pride and pleas - ure of my days ! Source of all my
- out thee sickness wastes my heart ; Who can a - lone the

1^^-^^.=?=

^is=i

hap - pi - ness 1 Ei - leen a Roon !

cure im - part ? Ei - leen a Roon !

Break not, for king or throne,

Eileen a Roon,
The vows that made thee mine alone,

Eileen a Roon !
Venus of my every vow !
Brightest star on heaven's brow !
My Helen, without stain, art thou,

Eileen a Roon !
My rose, my lily, both confessed ;
My treasure, all I wish, possessed,

536 MUSIC AND POETRY.

The hearted secret of my breast,

Eileen a Roon !
3.
With thee, o'er seas Pd sport my way,

Eileen a Roon !
Never, never from thee stray,

Eileen a Roon !
I'd wander o'er thy honeyed lip ;
With love tales charm thee on the deep;
Then lull thee on my breast to sleep,

Eileen a Roon !
To valleys green I'd stray with thee;
By murmuring rill, and whispering tree ;
The birds will our wild minstrels be,

Eileen a Roon !
4.
With more than human passion warms,

Eileen a Roon,
I'd fold thee in these raptured arms,

Eileen a Roon !
Press thee, kiss thy bosom's snow ;
Round thee all my fondness throw,
Joys that only lovers know,

Eileen a Roon !
Heaven beams in all thine eye.
Spotless star of modesty !
Ere I deceive thee, may I die,

Eileen a Roon !
5.
A hundred thousand welcomes,*

Eileen a Roon !
A hundred thousand welcomes,

Eileen a Roon !
O ! welcome, evermore.
With welcomes yet in store.
Till life and love are o'er,

Eileen a Roon !

* Ceathe Miela Failthe, which means a hundred thousand welcomes, is a frequent
phrase of hospitality used in Ireland.

MUSIC AND POETRY.

537

fAg an bealac*

By C. G. Duffy, of the '■'■ J^ation."

AlXEGRO.

1. "Hope no more for fa - ther - land ; All its ranks are
y^^T^r^ ^^^' ^^1

thinned or broken ; " Long a base and coward band

id— d^-i ^---^ ^^-

--j ^-

-9

'9 9 w

1 i? "^ ^"

Re - creant words like these have spoken ; But we preach a

* Fdg an Bealac. ' " Clear the road ! " or, as it is vulgarly spelt, Faugh a Bal.
lagh, was the cry which the clans of Connaught and Munster used in battle.
The regiments raised in the South and West took their old shout with them
to the Continent. The 87th, or Royal Irish Fusileers, from their use of it, went
generally by the name of" The Faugh a Bollagh Boys." "Nothing," says Napier,
in his History of the Peninsular War, — " nothing so startled the French soldiery
as the wild yell with which the Irish regiments sprang to the charge." And
never was that haughty and intolerant shout raised in battle, but a charge, swift
as thought and fatal as flame, came with it, like a rushing incarnation of Fdg
an Bealac!

538

MUSIC AND POETRY.

r##

land a - wo - ken ! Father - land is true and tried,

:i:q:

:tlf=^-3yE=fz=3E

£.=3=;

-5i._

■^:

QEE

As your fears are false and hollow ; Slaves and dastards,

iZilTzzr^rzZfZ

^P=3

"I I I r
--IS— ^— - ' ^

stand a - side ! Knaves and traitors, Fag an bea - lac !

±.

^=£^^

*:=-r-

:n:

:^^

=4^=i

— 1^ — rr —
£:!EE3EiEE

Knaves and trai - tors. Fag an bea - lac !

-M-

-ST

=3i

Know, ye suffering brethren ours,

Might is strong, but Right is stronger ;

Saxon wiles, or Saxon powers.
Can enslave our land no longer
Than your own dissensions wrong her;

MUSIC AND POETRY. 539

Be ye one in might and mind;

Quit the mire where cravens wallow ;
And your foes shall flee like wind

From your fearless Fag an bealac!

Thus the mighty multitude

Speak, in accents hoarse with sorrow: —
" We are fallen, but unsubdued ;

Show us whence we hope may borrow,

And we'll fight your fight to-morrow 1
Be but cautious, true, and brave,

Where ye lead us we will follow ;
Hill and valley, rock and wave.

Shall echo back our Fag an bealac.

"Fling our sun-burst to the wind,

Studded o'er with names of glory;
Worth, and wit, and might, and mind,

Poet young, and patriot hoary.

Long shall make it shine in story.
Close your ranks — the moment's come —

Now, ye men of Ireland, follow !
Friends of freedom, charge them home!
, Foes of freedom, Fag an bealac!"

540

MUSIC AND POETRY.

TAKE HENCE THE BOWL.

BY MOORE .

L With Melancholy Peeling. |'

E=e^

-fi

-p

£::

1 . Take hence the bowl ; though beam - ing

'^-e =

-# —

js'

:p=zrp__^:

:»

-F

f — i:

Bright - ly as bowl e'er shone,

©±

-&-

-^-

E=E^=^=i=

O ! it but sets

me dream - ing Of

~^sr

3— znl=^-

-9--i -i-^' 1

d^-

"# I"

8±

days, of nights, now gone.

MUSIC AND POETRY.

541

iiEr=

^5=s=^=«F=f

line:

There, in its clear re - flee - tion, As

8±

«s>-

=P=^F

--^

Lost hopes and dead

af - fee - tion, Like

~^L

~sr-

"S^

shades be - fore

8±

pass.

-n<S>-

-st

2.
Each cup I drain brings hither

Some friend who once sat by ;
Bright lips, too bright to wither;

Warm hearts, too warm to die !
Till, as the dream comes o'er me,

Of those long-vanished years,
Then, then the cup before me

Seems turning all to tears !

542

MUSIC AND POETRY.

ARABY'S DAUGHTER.

BY MOORE.

p ^ - 1^ ^ - .- ^ p^ — -p —

1. Farewell, farewell to thee, Ar - a - by's daughter;

-*1-

.l:

:f-

Thus warbled a pe - ri be - neath the dark sea ; No

rJcBz

=Ji=i:

^^E^

-|»-:

T»

irizrzi- 9'

i ^ ^-

-b»— J^— L

pearl ev-er lay under Oman's green wa-ter, More

5—5-

zt-^:

pure in its shell than thy spir - it in thee. A

-5-F

MUSIC AND POETRY.

543

■ round thee shall glis - ten the love - li - est amber That

=R^

-^.9-

-iV-

sor - row - ing sea-bird has wept, With

f-r^^-r-^-r^

in whose hoUow-wreath'd chamber We

o - cean by moon - light have slept.

ti;

JNor shall Iran, beloved of her hero, forget thee,
Though tyrants watch over her tears as they start;

Close, close by the side of that hero she'll set thee,
Embalmed in the innermost shrine of her heart!
Around thee shall glisten, &tc.

LECTURE XIV.

PROM A. D. 1016 TO 1509.

Resumption of the Narrative. — Reign of Malachyll. — Of Donough O'Brien. —
Of Turlogh O'Brien. — Names of seventeen Irish Kings who reigned in four
hundred Years. — Condition of England. — Enghshmen bought as Slaves. —
Edward the Confessor. — William of Normandy, " the Conqueror," enslaves the
English. — Abolishes the Saxon Language. — Origin of Barons. — State of Wales
and Scotland. — Affairs of Ireland. — King Turlogh O'Connor. — The ancient
Manufactures of Ireland. — Manufacturing in Europe. — Roderick O'Connor
crowned Monarch of Ireland. — Dermot M'Murrough. — O'Ruark o( BieSny. —
Deposition of M'Murrough. — He flies to England. — Proposals to Henry II.
and Strongbow : invites an Invasion of his Country. — Invaders routed by the
Irish King. — Their Treachery. — Further Invasions. — Battle of Wexford. —
Progress of th? Invaders. — Their Compromise with the King. — Strongbow
lands. — Captures Waterford. — Invaders march on Dublin. — Alarm of the
Irish. — Cause of Ireland's Weakness. — Strongbow recalled by Henry II. —
Arrival of Henry II. — Conference at Cashell. — The Pope's Bull. — Submission
of some Chiefs. — Henry returns to England. — Henry's Character. — The forged
Bulls. — M'Murrough's Death. — Death of O'Ruark. — Poem of John Quincy
Adams on this Invasion. — Reflections on this Invasion. — Henry's Treaty with
the King of Ireland. — Henry II. did not conquer Ireland. — First Lord Deputy
sent to Ireland. — Prince John. — Abdication of Roderick. — Death of Henry II.

— Kinar John. — Magna Charta. — Confusion of Tongues. — An Irish Cham-
pion.-^ Henry III. and Edward I. of England. — Wales annexed to England.

— Wallace and Bruce of Scotland. — Inventions of this Age.— Bruce invited to
Ireland. — Failure of the Enterprise. — Reign of Edward III. of England. —
Penal Laws against the Irish. — "Irish Absentees." — Ineffectual Efforts to
conquer Ireland. — The Wars of York and Lancaster. — The O'Byrnes of
Wicklow. — English pay Tribute to the Irish Chiefs. — Charge of Ignorance
against the Irish refuted. — Donald O'Neill's Letter to the Pope. — Letter of
the Duke of York. — Fall of Richard III. — Henry VII. — State of Ireland at
this Time. — Poyning's Law. — Duties performed by the Clergy.

We shall now resume the general history of Ireland at the epoch of
the battle of Clontarf, anno 1016.

The Danes were effectually crushed in spirit by that memorable battle.
No further attempts of any consequence were made by them upon
Ireland. Their daring, adventurous leaders, having established them-
selves as masters over England, and over a considerable territory of

MALACHI II. TURLOGH O BRIEN. 545

France, called Normandy, seemed to be content with those extensive
domains, and to have given up all farther hopes of conquering a coun-
try, in which, during two hundred and forty years, so many millions
of their choicest soldiers had been slain.

On the death of the illustrious Brien Boroimhe, and of his heroic
son Murrough, with others of his children, on the field of Clontarf, the
crown of Ireland was resumed by Malachi the Second.

The country gradually glided into a state of apathetic indifference to
political rights, disturbed only by the ambitious efforts of the three
great houses to possess the monarchy. These houses were long
known as the southern O'Briens, the northern Hy Nials, and the Con-
naught Hybrunes, whose contentions with each other generated those
commotions that rendered their country an easy prey, in the twelfth
century, to another set of invaders, still more cruel, still more treacher-
ous, than the Danes.

The eight years of Malachi's reign were devoted to arts of peace and
works of improvement. At his death, the chief government of Ireland
was assumed by the reigning prince of Munster, Donough O'Brien,
otherwise Donat, or Denis, son of Brien Boroimhe. A portion only
of the nation obeyed him. His reign was, however, peaceful. The
princes of the other provinces were satisfied with governing their own
subjects, without disputing with him the supreme authority ; but, being
suspected of having been accessory to the death of Thadeus, his eldest
brother, he was dethroned by the nobles of the kingdom, and reduced
to the rank of a private individual, which induced him to undertake a
pilgrimage to Rome, according to the habit of those ancient times.
Here he spent the remainder of his life in St. Stephen's monastery, and
died at the age of eighty-eight years, having presented the crown and
harp of his father to the pope. After his abdication, the crown of
Ireland was preserved by Dermod, as the regent, or protector, for the
young Twiogh O^Brien, grandson of the illustrious Brien of Clon-
tarf. Dermod had to assume sovereign sway, to raise armies, to fight
battles for his ward, which history informs us he did most valiantly.

At length, in the year 1072, Turlogh O^ Brien was installed on the
throne of Tara as monarch of Ireland. He was a prince of consider-
able abilities, courage, and piety, and approached to, or closely im-
itated the virtues of his illustrious grandsire.

He, at his death, was succeeded by his son Murtagh, who died
1101, having previously retired to a monastic life.

From the reign of Aoddi the Fourth, in the eighth century, to that of
69

546 SEVENTEEN IRISH KINGS. CONDITION OF ENGLAND.

Roderick O'Connor, in the twelfth, there reigned seventeen kings in
a space of about four hundred years, which gave an average reign of
near thirty years to each. They were as follows: Connor, JSial
III., Malachi L, Hugh VL, Flan, Nial IV., Congalach, Malachi
II., Brien Boroimhe, Donough O^Brien, Dermod, the regent,
TurIos;h O^Brien, Moriarthach O'Brien, DonkaJd Maglough-
lin, Turlogh O'Connor, Moriarthach Magloughlin, and Roderick
O' Connor.

The reigns of some of these latter kings were, in every respect,
what a Christian people could admire ; and there are many records
existing of letters which had frequently been sent by the arch-
bishops of Canterbury to Turlogh O'Brien, of a highly laudatory
character.

It is necessary that we now take a hasty glance at the political and
social condition of England about this period, that we may the better
understand the roots of those organic changes which shordy after took
place in both kingdoms.

From the period of the Saxon buichery, in 476, to the Danish
invasion of England, in the beginning of the ninth century, the
government of England was divided into eight principahties, between
the Saxon princes, which they called the heptarchy. A separate
king reigned over the ancient Britons, who inhabited the Welsh moun-
tains. Scotland, on the north, had its independent king.

The ravages of the Danes, and their final conquest of England, in
the ninth century, broke up the frame of the Saxon government.
The whole nation became subject to the Danes, who ingrafted them-
selves on the soil, and married into the older Saxon families, and thus
became, as it were, by sufferance, the rulers of England.

Alfred, during the latter part of his life, totally hunted them from
his soil ; but, after his death, they returned, and, under Canute and
other Danish chieftains, England was brought again under the sub-
jection of the Danish rulers.

At this time, the English Saxons were bought and sold as slaves by
their conquerors. The price of a slave was quadruple that of an ox.
Slaves and cattle formed the living money ; they passed current in the
payment of debts, and also in the purchase of property and commodi-
ties. — See Wade's Recent History of England.

In the year 1042, on the death of Hardicanute, without issue, the
crown of England, by will, came to the hands of the celebrated
Edward, a monk, called the Confessor, who was brother of one of the

EDWARD THE CONFESSOR. AVILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. 547

previous Saxon princes. By the accession of this monk, the Saxon line
was restored in England.

Edward was a religious, learned monk, who, though thus being un-
expectedly called from his clois.ter to govern a nation, displayed great
wisdom, talents, and fitness for the trust.

Having been educated in Normandy, he preferred the Normans to
the highest posts of honor and command. He gathered together the
old Saxon laws and customs, which they had derived principally from
Ireland. These, together with the Psalter, or Doomsday Book, com-
menced by Alfred, after the model of the Psalter of Tcira, he had
carefully transcribed in the Latin language, which compilation contains
the great landmarks of the British constitution. It is that work to
which constitutional lawyers are prone to refer, for precedents of
social regulations. He built many churches in England, amongst
others, Westminster Abbey, demolished by Henry the Third, but since
rebuilt. He reigned twenty-three years ; and at his death, 1066,
the crown of England was claimed by Harold, son of the Danish
Earl Godwin.

This claim was contested by Tosti, assisted by Harold's brother,
who met Harold with their respective forces on the plains near Stan-
ford bridge, when a great carnage took place, the field being whitened,
for fifty years after, by the bones of the slain. At this battle, Harold
was victorious ; but, in four days after it was fought, William, duke of
Normandy, landed on the Sussex coast, with a powerful army. Harold
at the time was seated at a banquet, in York, surrounded by his thanes,
when news was brought of the arrival of a formidable competitor for the
crown. They met at the celebrated field of Hastings, where Harold's
forces were cut to pieces, himself slain, and William proclaimed king.

This took place on the 3d of October, 1066. That great victory,
and the final triumph of William of Normandy, has been called the
JSorman conquest, by which England came under the rule of a new
dynasty. •

William claimed the crown of England, under the pretence of a
promise of it. made to him by Edward the Confessor, which claim he
supported and established in the field. William the Conqueror proved
a terrible scourge to England. He carried fire and sword into eveiy
part, and spared neither age nor sex, young nor old. Several risings were
attempted in the course of his reign, but these he suppressed with great
cruelty. He affected to hold England as a tributary province to Nor-

548 WILLIAM ENSLAVES THE ENGLISH.

mandy ; and yet the man who got all this power was the illegithnate
son of Robert, duke of Normandy, by the daughter of a tanner.

Speaking of his irruption into the north of England, William, the
Abbot of Malmesbury, writing sixty years after the conquest, says,
" From York to Durham, not an inhabited village remained ; fire-
slaughter, and desolation, made it a vast wilderness, which it continues
to this day."

William introduced the curfew law into England, which compelled
the nation to put out their fires and candles at eight o'clock every night.

" It would be difficult to find in history,'' says an English writer, " a
revolution more destructive, or attended with a more complete subjection
of the ancient inhabitants. Contumely was added to oppression, and
the unfortunate natives were universally reduced to such a state of
servility, meanness, and poverty, that, for ages, the English name becamb
a term of reproach I'''' * And several generations passed away before
one single family of Saxon pedigree was raised to any honor, or could
attain the rank of baron, in the state.

The English language was abolished in the court of the king, and
in those of law, and the French language substituted; at length, William
would suffer the youth of the nation to be instructed in no other than
the French tongue. The English language was proclaimed and
cried down by public and private act, in the same manner that the
good Queen Bess tried to extinguish the Irish language, in the
sixteentii century, which, however, has outlived her persecutions, and
will outlive the power and dynasty of her tyrant successors. The
pleadings in the law courts, from this time to the time of Edward the
Third, anno 1340, and the acts of Parliament, were all written in the
French language. Those Saxons, who wished to curry favor at court,
helped to run down their native tongue, and bring it into contempt.
Even so is it with some of the Irish at present, in reference to the lan-
guage and customs of their native land.

•
" We'd think no slaves lived in the ancient reign,
Did not some plain examples still remain."

The organic changes effected by this tyrant are beyond my limited
space to even compress into a short recital. He demolished churches
in every part of England, taking possession of their lands, which he
appropriated to his hungry followers — a practice afterwards followed by
his descendant, the rival monster, Henry the Eighth. He disarmed the

* Wade.

ORIGIN OF BARONS. STATE OF WALES AND SCOTLAND. 549

English militia, and broke them up ; he look possession of all the
lands of England, which he divided into baronies, reserving four-
teen hundred manors and estates to himself; the remainder he conveyed
to about seven hundred of his followers, whom he honored by the .
title of harons.

The baronies were again let out to knights, or vassals, who paid the
baron the same submission in peace or war which the baron paid to the
king. The whole kingdom was put into the hands of about seven
hundred chief tenants, and sixty thousand " knights' fees." None of the
natives were admitted into the first class, but were glad to be admitted
into the second, and be the willing vassal of some Norman master.
The military of the kingdom was maintained by each of those chiefs as
the first charge on their lands ; and diis is the origin of primo-
geniture in England, by which all the lands of that country were held
after the conquest.

A curious piece of antique embroidered tapestry is yet preserved In
the cathedral of Bayeux, in France. It is a piece of linen, four
hundred and twenty feet long, and two feet wide, on which is worked
the principal figures and most striking scenes of the Norman conquest ;
it was worked by women, chosen by Matilda, the conqueror's wife ;
and it accurately describes the dress of the heroes of that age. None
of them wore stockings, and all wore wooden shoes. Wooden shoes
were then worn by the greatest of the European princes.

About this time, the celebrated Macbeth, the hero of Shakspeare's
tragedy, murdered Duncan, the king of Scotland, and usurped the
crown. He was deposed by Malcolm, aided by Seward, earl of North-
umberland. About the same period, Griffith ap Cynan, who was
educated in Ireland, reigned king of the Welsh.

In this age began that remarkable movement, known as the " cru-
sades," to which I have elsewhere alluded.

Such was the general state of Europe, of England, Scodand, Wales,
and Ireland, at the important epoch in Irish history which we are
approaching.

We have now arrived at the year 1150, and we find Turlogh
O'Connor, of the Connaught line, monarch of Meath, and the west
and south of Ireland. From the events of his reign, the historians
have drawn of this prince a high character. He was not only a great
general, but a profound and accomplished politician ; he protected trade,
manufactures, letters, and religion ; he had a strong passion for archi-
tecture, and built many great chyrches, castles, and bridges ; he rebuilt

550 MANUFACTURES OF IRELAND.

several causeys, and repaired and made many roads ; he threw two
spacious bridges across the River Shannon, one at Athlone, the other at
Achochtha ; he also established a new mint, and had money coined at
Cluon Macknoise, — repaired the cathedral of Tuam, founded there a
great priory ; he punished crime severely ; even his own son. was loaded
with irons for twelve months for some unstated crime ; he founded and
endowed several universities throughout Ireland ; and left great wealth,
by his will, to the churches and colleges.

About this time also were held several ecclesiastical synods in
Ireland ; the proceedings of which are more interesting to the priest-
hood than to the general reader, as they related to mere matters of
discipline ; they will be found detailed at copious length in Lannigan,
Carew, or Gahan's Ecclesiastical Histories.

It may be proper here to take a glance at the manufacturing powers
of Ireland and Europe about this period.

I have already shown that the people of Ireland manufactured the
materials furnished by their mines, forests, flocks, and herds, into
every necessary for their own use. I have adduced the holding of
several fairs throughout Ireland, at which woollens, serges, flannels,
and other textile fabrics, were brought forward for sale. I have shown
the immense quantities of iron which were paid as revenue to their
various kings : their gold and silver articles of ornament and use were of
the highest finish, and display the proficiency of the workmen even to
this day. We have heard of the beautiful colors imparted to their
manufactures by the use of the marine insect called buccani purpura.
This was known in Ireland five hundred years before the Christian
era. We have seen that they manufactured silk for their chieftains'
dresses, which are frequently described by the bards with remarkable
precision. Amongst the articles of dress is noted the silken shirt.

In looking back upon those ages, if we see more attention given to
the polite arts than to trade and manufactures, we must attribute this
bias in the public mind to the universal spirit of chivalry which per-
vaded, in those times, every nation of Europe. It was then deemed
mean to trade or traffic in articles of manufacture ; such was then the
prevalent feeling of Europe.

The celebrated De Witt, of Holland, writing of those ages, says,
"Before this period, \ihe tenth century,^ there were no merchants in
all Europe, excepting a few in the republics of Italy, who traded with
the Indian caravans of the Levant ; or possibly there might have been
found some merchants elsewhere, though but in few places, that carried

MANUFACTURING IN EUROPE. 551

on an inland trade, so that each nation, to the northward and eastward,
was forced to sow, build, and weave for itself; wherefore, in case of a
superfluity of their people, they were compelled, by force of arms, (for
want of provisions, and to prevent the effects of bad seasons, or hunger,)
to conquer more land. Such circumstances produced the irruptions of
the Celtae, Cimbri, Scythians, Goths, Vandals, Huns, Franks, Burgun-
dians, Normans, Stc, who, till about the year 1000, were in their greatest
strength ; all which people, and, in a word, all that spoke Dutch or
German, exchanged their superfluities, not for money, but, as it is re-
lated, thus — viz., two hens for a goose, two geese for a hog, three lambs
for a sheep, three calves for a cow, so much oats for barley, so much
barley for wheat, he. ; so that, excepting for eatables, there was
neither barter nor traffic. The Flemings, lying nearest to France, were
the first that began to earn their living by weaving, and sold the same
in that fruitful land, where the inhabitants were not only able to feed
themselves, but also, by the superfluous growth of their country, would
put themselves into good apparel ; which Baldwin, the count of Flan-
ders, considered, about the year 960, considerably improved by es-
tablishing yearly fairs in several places without laying on any toll."

Such were the commerce and traffic of Europe in those ages. I have
shown that Ireland had her great annual fairs ever since the days of
Cormac, in the third century, and probably since the first settlement of
the country by the Phoenicians ; for it was, as I have shown under the
head of " Architecture," the practice of the citizens of Tyre to hold
frequently those great fairs, in which woollen cloth, serges, flannels,
silks', and linens, were sold, also gold and silver ornaments, Sic. Those
" fairs " continue in Ireland to the present day. Fairs were not established
generally in Europe until the ninth century. Somewhat later than the
tenth century, the Flemings likewise supplied Germany with their
draperies, and, later still, the countries more northerly.

England had no foreign commerce for many centuries after this period.
The great bulk of her foreign trade was, for two hundred years, en-
grossed by the German merchants, who kept, in London, the cele-
brated Steelyard ; and these Germans conducted all their traffic also
in their own shipping. The British had not then either merchants
or shipping, until the inhabitants of the cinque ports, lying opposite to
France and Flanders, began, by degrees, to build ships of their own.
About the middle of the fourteenth century, the English began to build
ships, which Edward the Third very much encouraged. The great
raonarchs of Christendom concerned themselves, for many centuries,

552 KING RODERICK o'cONNOR. o'rUARK.

only in the trade of war, and left the business of traffic altogether to
smaller states.

I shall now, having given the reader a glance at the general state of
Europe, come back to the affairs of Ireland, which country, at this
time, was far ahead of the continental nations of Europe, in arts,
sciences, letters, laws, religion, traffic.

In the year 1166, Roderick O'Connor, son to Turlogh the Great,
assumed the title, and was saluted monarch of Ireland. He marched
through the several provinces of the kingdom, and received the hostages
and formal submission of its chiefs. And now took place that incident
in our history that led to all the misfortunes which Ireland has endured
from tliat day to the present.

Dermot M'MurroughO'Kavenagh. king of Leinster, nursed a passion
for DeargorviUe, daughter of the king of Meath, and, though she was
subsequendy married to O'Ruark, prince of Breffny, or West Meath,
yet their mutual affection was not extinguished by the separation
consequent thereon. At length an opportunity offered which brought
matters to a crisis. It was the practice, in those ages, for princes
to go on long journeys to holy retreats in the performance of re-
ligious pilgrimages. O'Ruark had gone to Lough Dherg, a religious
retreat in the north of Ireland, which was consecrated by St. Patrick,
and which was frequented, for several centuries, by greater numbers
than even the holy see itself. In the absence of O^RuarTc,
M'Murrough, the Leinster prince, carried off Deargorville to his
own castle of Ferns, in Leinster. On the injured husband's return,
his feelings, and those of his friends, were worked up to a high
pitch of anger. His first act was to complain to the monarch
Roderick. This he did in the following letter, translated by O'Hal-
loran : —

" O^Ruark to Roderick the Monarch, health.
" Though I am sensible, most illustrious prince, that human adversi-
ties should be always supported with firmness and equanimity, and that
a virtuous man ought not to distress or afflict himself on account of the
levity, or inconstancy, of an imprudent female, yet, as this most horri-
ble crime (of which I am fully satisfied) must have reached your eai-s
before the receipt of my letters, and as it is a crime hitherto so un-
heard-of, as far as I can recollect, as never to be attempted against any
king of Ireland, — seventy impels me to seek justice, whilst charity
admonishes me to forgive the injury. If you consider only the dishonor^

DERMOT M MURROUGH.

— that, I confess, is mine alone ; if you reflect on the cause, it is
common to us both ; for what confidence can we place in our subjects,
who are bound unto us by royal authority, if this lascivious destroyer
of chastity shall escape unpunished after the commission of so flagitious
a crime ? The outrages of princes, so publicly and notoriously com-
mitted, if not corrected, become precedents of pernicious example to the
people ; in a word, you are thoroughly convinced of my affection and
attachment to you ; you behold me wounded with the shafts of fortune,
and sorely distressed with the greatest afflictions : it only remains for me
to request, as I am entirely devoted to you, that you will not only with
your counsels assist, but with your arms revenge, these injuries, which
torment and distract me. This, when you will, and as you will, I not
only demand, but require, at your hands. Farewell !

" O'RUARK."

Mr. Moore thinks that the outrage upon O'Ruark took place ten
years before Roderick O'Connor came to the throne, and that Mag-
loughlin, the monarch at that lime, refused to take up his quarrel. Be
that as it may, all the historians agree that Roderick O'Connor, in con-
sequence of this appeal from O'Ruark, immediately called a national
council, at which it was decreed that M'Murrough, for various crimes
and enormities, was unworthy to reign longer over Leinster. An army
was fitted out, and the command of it given to O'Ruark. He marched
to the territories of M'Murrough, who made some feeble resistance ; but,
his friends and followers every where abandoning him, he sought safety
in flight, and embarked, with about sixty followers, for Bristol. The un-
fortunate lady, the cause of all this war, flew to St. Bridget's nunnery,
in Kildare, where she passed the rest of her life in penitence.

The territories of M'Murrough were divided between the princes of
Ossory and Murcha. The royal army returned, and proceeded to
quell some rising in the north : that army amounted, we are told, to
thirty-nine thousand foot and fourteen thousand horse.

King Roderick, who accompanied the expedition, returned to Tara,
held a parliament there, and also the fair of Taltean, which lasted
for a month, and which was surrounded with unusual splendor.

But while the Irish nation were thus enjoying the blessings of peace,
they little suspected that a plot was hatching to disturb their tran-
quillity, and destroy their independence.

The exiled M'Murrough, after remaining some time in Bristol,
repaired to Normandy, in the north of France, where Henry the Second,
70

554 m'murrough flies to England.

kino- of Eno-land, ihen was sojourning. Henry was the fourth Norman
kino- of Eno-land, after Wilham the Conqueror. Between him and the
Conqueror, there were WilHam the Second, called Rnfus, on account
of his red hair, Henry the First, and Stephen.

MMurrough sought assistance from the English monarch to regain
his lost dominion. Henry the Second gave him a favorable reception,
heard his tale, but excused himself from, at present, engaging in his
cause. MMurrough requested, at least, his permission to raise such
volunteers amongst his subjects as he could procure. To this Henry
consented, and issued in his favor the following proclamation, addressed
to all his subjects of England, Wales, and Normandy : —

" Whereas Dermod, king of Leinster, most wrongfully, (as he in-
formeth,) banished out of his own country, hath craved our aid, there-
fore, forasmuch as we have received him into our protection, grace, and
favor, whoever, within our realms, subject unto our command, will aid
and help him, whom we have embraced as our trusty friend, for the
recovery of his land, let him be assured of our grace and favor."

MMurrough, by sound of trumpet, had tliis proclamation frequently
read in Bristol and some adjoining cities. He offered great rewards to
such as would enlist under his banners ; but his progress was not en-
couraoino-. He then passed over to Wales, and applied to Richard,
Earl of Strigul, commonly called Strongbow. He made considerable
offers of lands in Ireland to the Welsh Norman chieftain, also offered
him his daughter Eva in marriage, and the reversion of his kingdom,
on his death, if, by his means and those of his friends, he should be
restored to his dominions. This treaty was accepted by Strongbow,
sioned and sworn to on both sides, and MMurrough bound himself
by oath, to give him, at a proper time, his daughter Eva in marriage ;
but the exiled prince had not the power, by the Irish constitution, to
will his kingdom to alien blood, or to any chief, contrary to the will of
his people.

Two other Welsh chieftains, Robert Fitzstephen and Maurice Fitz-
gerald, entered into the project : one of these was promised the town
of Wexford. With such forces as he could collect, MMurrough
landed suddenly on the Irish coast, and seized on a portion of his old
territories. O'RuarJc, his mortal enemy, had notice of this, and was
soon in arms to expel him, with the approbation of the monarch,
Roderick O'Connor.

MMurrough then had recourse to negotiation. He made the most
abject submission to King Roderick, and besought him to interpose his

FIRST ENGLISH INVASIONS. 555

good offices to appease the vengeance of O'Ruark, whom he confessed
he had greatly injured ; and as the unhappy lady had long become a
penitent sister of the holy nuns of Kildare, he begged for the enjoy-
ment of a portion or pittance of his former patrimony.

His appeal, which was made through an eloquent ecclesiastic, was
heard favorably, (unfortunately for Ireland.) He was allowed a large
breadth of the lands of Wexford ; he delivered up seven hostages to
the monarch, and presented O'Ruark with one hundred ounces of pure
gold. Thus every thing appeared settled ; but alas for Ireland, that
gave birth to such a traitor as MMurrough !

Having now artfully gained a settlement and reestablishment in his
native country, forgetful of his oaths, or hostages, to the Irish monarch,
he turned his whole energies and cunning to the base object of binding
that native country in the toils of the stranger. He sent his private
secretary, O'Regan, to Wales, to remind his friends of their promises
and engagements, and to say that he was ready to receive them with
open arms. He directed him to send over small squadrons, so as not to
alarm his enemies, and to be ready to land a considerable force in the
spring. O'Regan was directed to get as many recruits, for the enter-
prise, as he could, and make the most flattering promises of land and
wealth to the adventurers.

M'Murrough was busy and incessant throughout that winter, and
increased his partisans and followers without" letting them know his
deep intent; and, by appointment with his Welsh associates, there
landed, in May, 1169, in five small vessels from Wales, Fitzstephen,
Fitzgerald, Barry, Hervey, and some other chiefs, together with about
thirty knights, sixty esquires, and three hundred archers, .with Maurice
Prendergast at the head of ten knights and two hundred archers, forming
not more than seven hundred foreigners altogether. On their arrival,
on the 11th May, 1169, they despatched a letter to MMurrough,
announcing their presence in the country. He Immediately sent his
son, at the head of five hundred horse, to meet them ; he followed
himself, at the head of two thousand infantry ; and they soon concerted a
plan of military operations. Wexford being nearest them, they resolved
to attack it first, which they did with great fury. Fitzstephen and
Barry led on the troops to the assault ; they soon filled the ditches, and
reared their ladders against the walls ; but the Irish, regardless of
their shining armor, in which all the adventurers were incased, hurled
them from the walls with great slaughter ; and, after the loss of many
gallant knights and soldiers, the invaders sounded a retreat.

556 BATTLE OF WEXFORD.

This repulse greatly dispirited them ; and Fitzstephen, fearing that
his followers would fly to their ships and return, had them burnt before
their eyes, that no mode of escape might lie open, and to convince
ihem that death or victory was the only choice before them. For
three successive days did they renew the attack, but with no better
success.

At length the bishop and clergy of Wexford, in order to save the
effusion of Christian blood, — both the invaders and invaded were
of one faith then, — offered their mediation to bring about terms of
peace. This was listened to, and the result was, the citizens returned in
their allegiance to M'Murrough, putting hostages into his hands for this
agreement. But lliey little thought he had conveyed over, by a sort
of mortgage, the city and liberties of Wexford to the strangers. No
sooner did he get possession of the town, than he resigned his authority
and rights over it to Fitzstephen and Fitzgerald.

This triumph, obtained by stratagem, over W^exford, raised the name
of M'Murrough, and exaggerated the numbers of his foreign auxiliaries.
Numbers of his countrymen flocked to his standard, thinking they were
supporting their chief and prince, and, without a single additional soldier
from England, he invaded the territories of the neighboring chiefs, and
subdued and plundered them.

All this took place in Wexford without exciting any alarm throughout
the other provinces of Ireland. It was, unfortunately, too much the prac-
tice, in those days, for provincial princes to make war upon each other,
and retaliate, on each side, by spoils and hostages, without calling for
the interference of any other power. The progress of this liandful of
adventurers, in support of the efforts of one of their own princes, to
recover his territories, excited too little jealousy, and it seems not more
than the ordinary curiosity consequent upon border warfare.

M'Murrough, however, refusing to pay his annual tribute to Roder-
ick, the monarch, the latter felt justly alarmed at such manifestation of
independence, which he truly attributed to the presence and advice
of the strangers. He thereupon called a council of the estates, when it
was resolved that M'Murrough should dismiss the strangers from his
dominion, compensating them for their services, and the king, Roderick,
undertook to provide them with ships, to take them back to their own
country ; but as F'itzstephen had been taken out of jail, and the majority
of those adventurers were outlaws and runaways from the justice of
their own country, the offer was not at all palatable, though any other
terms, short of quitting Ireland, would have been gladly accepted. They

PROGRESS OF THE INVADERS. 557

counselled M'MuiTougb, therefore, not to yield. But the Irish monarch,
at the head of twenty thousand men, marched into Leinster, and would
have exterminated the invaders, but for, unluckily again, the interference
of the clergy, who were authorized by the wily M'Murrough to offer
a complete submission to Roderick, on the part of himself, and to dis-
miss all the foreigners, with proper rewards for their trouble. And this
agreement, being accepted, was ratified by the oath of M'Murrough,
before the great altar of the church of St. Maidog, at Ferns. The un-
dertaking was joined in, besides, by several of the clergy, to increase the
solemnity and guaranty of the contract.

In this year, Maidog, third son to Owen Gwinneth, of North Wales,
by an Irish lady, born in Clochran, in Connaught, and who was much
addicted to maritime affairs, fitted out some ships to explore towards the
north, but was driven to the American coast, where, according to Stow
and Clin, he landed at New Spain, now Florida. He returned to Ire-
land, and fitted out a second expedition ; but of this last no accounts ever
were received. It is said that a portion of this small colony penetrated
into Mexico, and founded tribes in that extraordinary and fertile region.

To return : M'Murrough kept up an active correspondence wit'j
Strongbow ; and, finally, that chief, at the head of a considerable force,
landed at Waterford, in 1170, where being joined by M'Murrough,
they soon attacked the city, but were bravely repulsed. Next day they
returned to the assault, but were again unsuccessful. Raymond Le
Gros, one of the foreigners, hit upon an unthought-of expedient for
entering the town : observing a projecting house, built on the city
walls, one side of which rested on a few wooden piles, — these he pulled
from under the house, when it tumbled ; and thus,(in the night,) opening
a pass, the besiegers rushed in, and fell upon the inhabitants, sword in
hand, committing the greatest carnage and the most atrocious acts of
cruelty, sparing neither age nor sex. The city, by this stratagem, fell
into their hands, and its vast wealth became their spoil.

The fiendish M'Murrough then sent for his daughter to the castle of
Ferns, and had her married on the spot, in the midst of the shocking
carnage, to Strongbow. M'Murrough and his allies, now having
Waterford and Wexford at their command, — in the harbors of which
they kept ships, to secure a retreat, — looked to more extensive conquest,
and prepared a considerable force to move on Dublin. They provided
their army with every necessary for the march on Dublin, of which the
monarch, Roderick, was apprized, and to frustrate which he had all the
roads guarded. M'Murrough and his associates got to Dublin by un-

558 SIEGE OF DUBLIN.

frequented paths, over tlie wild mountains of Glendelough, in the County
Wicklow, and thus evaded the royal army, arriving before Dublin ere
the king was aware that tliey had begun to move.

They called on the citizens to surrender, but this was obstinately
refused ; and here again the interference of the clergy, who wished to
avoid the shedding of human blood, was the cause of the loss of this
important garrison to the Irish.

St. Lawrence O'Toole, the archbishop of Dublin, one of the most
learned men of Europe at this period, proposed a negotiation between
the besieged and besiegers. A deputation of the citizens, with that
most venerable prelate at their head, met M^Murrough and Strongbow
at their camp; but, during this negotiation, Raymond Le Gros and
Miles Cogan were examining the city walls, and, having found the
weakest and least defended part, they returned to their camp, and, ere
yet the negotiation ended, rushed, at the head of one thousand picked
men, to those weak points of the city, which they entered with great
fury, sword in hand, and butchered old and young, male and female,
committing the most revolting acts of violation on the ladies, in presence
of their dying husbands, brothers, and relatives. Pillage and slaughter
were the order of the hour, in the midst of which MMurrough and
Strongbow entered the city in triumph, and Cogan, for this treacherous
and ULSoldierlike act, was installed governor of Dublin.

The twenty-first of September, 1170, was the day of this dreadful
massacre. The treachery, perfidy, and cruelty, of those new invaders,
astonished and terrified the whole nation. The Irish princes, when
they fought with each other, appointed the time and place of battle ;
and when the conflict was over, the victors were excessive in their kind-
ness to the vanquished, treaties of peace and oaths were kept religious-
ly, property was not violated, nor the sacred shrine of female honor
invaded. But these miscreants introduced a new system of warfare ;
they exhibited nought but savage treachery, blood-thirstiness, and
beastly ferocity.

When these misfortunes had fallen on the Irish people, they were
greatly grieved and subdued in spirit, and, wondering one to another at
the change in their fortunes, held a solemn meeting of the clergy and
chief men at Armagh, to consider their present condition, and such parts
of their conduct as might be deemed most offensive by the Almighty,
who had evidently sent these invaders as a scourge. It appeared, at that
meeting, that it was the custom of Englishmen to expose their children
for sale, and the Irish speculators of the day bought and sold them from

ALARM OF THE IRISH. 559

one to another, like any other articles of merchandise. The synod of
Armagh, therefore, entered into a most solemn vow to discontinue forever
this traffic in their fellow-creatures. All the English, in bondage in Ire-
land, were thereupon set at liberty. — See Camhrcnsis and Dr. Warner.

Upon this crisis in the fate of Ireland, the Abbe M'Geoghegan makes
the following comment : " The reign of Roderick O'Connor is mem-
orable for a revolution, which forms an epoch fatal to Ireland. An
invasion of the English, which, in its beginning, would not have alarmed
even the petty republic of Ragusa, became, from its having been
neglected at first, so serious, that the liberty of a powerful nation became
its victim, and a monarchy which had lasted for more than two thousand
years was overthrown.

" Politicians endeavor to account for the fall of empires. By some it
is ascribed to the weakness of those rulers who introduce a bad system
in the administration of their laws, and by some to exterior causes;
while others, with more reason, assign it to the will of the Supreme
Being, who has drawn all things out of nothing, who governs all, and
sets bounds to the duration of all created objects. Besides this, how-
ever, I think we may examine the connection that exists between
natural and secondary causes, which are the instruments made use of
by the Divinity.

" With respect to Ireland, the source of her destruction can be
discovered within her own bosom. This kingdom was, from the settle-
ment of the Milesians in the island, governed by one king, till the reign
of Eocha the Ninth, who erected the four provinces into as many king-
doms, independent of each other, some time before the Christian era :
they were, however, dependent on the monarch, as those electors and
princes are who hold their states of the emperor of Germany. This
was the first blow which the constitution of Ireland received. It suf-
fered again, in the first century, by the revolt of the plebeians, and the
massacre of the princes and nobles of the country by these barbarians,
who seized upon the government. Towards the end of the second
century, a war also, which Modha-Nuagat, king of Munster, carried on
against Con, the monarch, (the result of which was the division of the
island between the contending parties,) produced new disasters to the
kingdom.

" Notwithstanding these convulsions in the state, and the violent
attacks of the Normans, during two centuries, the Irish monarchy still
maintained itself till the reign of Malachi the Second, in the beginning
of the eleventh century, when the sceptre, which had been for six or

560 STRONGBOW RECALLED BY HENRY.

seven hundred years hereditary in the same family, passed into other
hands. Factions increased in proportion to the number of claimants to
the crown, and the government was, in consequence, rendered weak and
enfeebled.

" The fall of monarchies seldom occurs suddenly. The change takes
place by degrees, and from a chain of events which imperceptibly un-
dermine the constitution of the state, (as sickness enervates the body,)
till it requires but a slight shock or stroke to complete their destruction.
The Irish monarchy received this fatal blow, in the twelfth century,
through the debauchery and boundless ambition of one of its princes.""

While Strongbow was carrying on his conquests, King Henry the
Second became alarmed lest he might assume a sovereignty in Ireland
independent of his royal power. He therefore issued a proclamation,
forbidding any of his subjects, on pain of death and forfeiture of their
lands, to give further aid to Strongbow. This seriously paralysed the
invader, for many of his troops returned affrighted to England. At
this nick of time the Irish had it completely in their power to prostrate
the forces of the invader; but fate ruled it otherwise. Instead of
uniting to drive off the common enemy, they wasted their energies in
fighting with each other, chieftain against chieftain, about some petty
privilege or tribute. Strongbow, in the mean time, sent his brother-in-
law, Raymond Le Gros, to King Henry, who was then in Normandy,
to formally surrender all the lands he had acquired in Ireland to his
majesty, and assure him of the speedy conquest of the whole kingdom,
if only a moderate army, under the command of his majesty in person,
were to land in the country. It appears the king refused to listen to
the suggestion, and returned a most discouraging answer to Strongbow;
whereupon that daring chief now resolved to act for himself.

In the mean time, St. Lawrence O'Toole, the archbishop of Dublin,
proved himself a pure patriot. Seeing an opportunity so favorable for
the utter extermination of the invaders of his country, he flew from
province to province, endeavoring to unite the chiefs and princes ; but
their foolish animosities between each other prevailed. They refused
to unite under Roderick O'Connor, who appeared not to have had the
confidence of the northern province. Besides, the insignificance of the
Anglo-Norman force in Ireland, and the reported refusal of Henry the
Second to abet his countrymen, tended to spread a dangerous security.
At length, however, the Irish chiefs were roused and ralhed, so far as to
surround Dublin with a considerable force, under the command of King
Roderick O'Connor. But, instead of proceeding to capture the city,

HENRY THE SECOND LANDS AT WATERFORD. 561

they foolishly lay two months around it, listening to negotiations from
the wily intruders, when at length the English, in a state of madness and
despair, rushed out at night, and, though only a handful, so terrorized
the unprepared Irish, that they fled : the king, being at the time in a
bath, had barely an opportunity to escape.

Strongbow, having now established his power over Leiuster, repaired in
person to the presence of Henry the Second, and the result was the form-
al invasion of Ireland by that monarch, with a force of four thousand five
liundred men, brought to Ireland in four hundred small ships. They
landed near Waterford, on St. Luke's day, 18th October, 1171. At
that very moment a fierce war was raging, in the heart of Ulster, between
the native chieftains, the forces of any of whom would have been suf-
ficient to defeat the king of England.

Strongbow formally gave up to King Henry, Waterford, Wexford, and
Dublin, which, together with the imposing presence of the king, and his
glittering retinue of armed knights, on their shores, paralyzed the courage
of the southern chiefs very materially. But that which more than any
thing else intimidated them, was the report, industriously circulated pre-
vious to Henry's arrival, that Pope Adrian had conferred the sovereignty
of Ireland on the English monarch.

It was the custom of princes in those days, for the greater security
of their dominions, to make them over to the head of the Christian
church, and receive them back as ecclesiastical grants ; for so sacred
were the possessions of the church then regarded, that none were found
throughout the Christian world so bold as to invade them.

It was pretended by King Henry, that Adrian the Fourth had made
over the whole of Ireland to him. He lost no time, therefore, on his
arrival, in inviting the clergy of the south and the west to a gi'and
conference, at the ancient seat of legislation, in Cashell. The pre-
tended bull of Adrian, who had then been dead eighteen years, was pro-
duced. It set forth the anxieties of die holy see to have virtue and
religion cultivated in Ireland, and the chief pastors obedient and sub-
missive to the sovereign poindfF; and the better to insure this object, the
clergy and people of Ireland were called upon to receive Henry the
Second of England as their king. A second bull, confirming the fore-
going, purporting to be from Alexander the Third, was also read ; and
though this one also has since been proved a forgery, yet it had an
astounding effect on the assembly.

Each man looked at his neighbor, not knowing what decision to
make. The ecclesiastics were seized with panic and indecision. Some
71

562 SUBMISSION OF SOME CHIEFS.

of the clergy inclined to the admonitions of the pope, and submitted to
Henry, whilst others went their ways tb their respective provinces as
much in grief as in anger. Some of the secondary chiefs of the south
u-ave up their territories to Henry, receiving the same back, to bold as
his vassals; and as this act of submission appeared not humiliating,
owinff to the acquiescence of many of the clergy in the ordinance of
ihe see of Rome, Henry obtained the adherence of seven counties
without striking a blow.

In this famous synod, some unimportant alterations were made in
reference to church affairs, which embraced only the better payment of
tithes, and the relief of the church lands from the quarterly tributes
demanded by chiefs, together with some regulations about marriages.
These things were sanctioned by Henry the more heartily, for he was
crafty, and lost no opportunity of gaining the clergy to his interests. It
is also alleged by English writers, that Henry, at this first convention,
gave the benefit of English laws to the Irish. If so, the Irish were so
unconscious of the benefit, that, outside of the English pale, they never
as much as adopted one of them; and, still more^ the English within the
pale could not be prevented, even by the most rigorous laws of Eng-
land, adopting the Irish laws, language, customs, and even the Milesian
names.

To whatsoever extent the English writers may claim a sovereignty
over Ireland by the submission to Henry of some of the southern princes,
and even that of the paltry Roderick of Connaught, they must admit
that the great north and north-west of the country never, even formally,
submitted to this newly-assumed power, and that, for two hundred and
fifty years from this period, it gradually melted away, until, as we shall
prove, the power of England in Ireland was represented by forty
horsemen and eighty archers on foot.

Henry was soon called back to England, to answer the charge of
having procured the assassination of Thomas a Becket, archbishop of
Canterbury, afterwards canonized as St. Thomas of Canterbury,
which there is no doubt but he did cause, promote, and had accom-
plished.

The Abbe M'Geoghegan, in proving those bulls forgeries, asks,
" Is it likely any pope would select such a monster as Henry the Second
to effect a reformation of a nation's morals ? " and then draws the char-
acter of Henry from Cambrensis, and other historians, thus : —

"The bull of Alexander the Third must appear a paradox to all
those who strictly investigate the morals of Henry, and his behavior to

THE FORGED BULLS. HENRt's CHARACTER. 563

the court of Rome. A bad Christian makes a bad apostle. What
was Henry the Second ? A man who, in private Hfe, forgot the
essential duties of religion, and frequently those of nature ; a supersti-
tious man, who, under the veil of religion, joined the most holy prac-
tices to the most flagrant vices ; regardless of his word, when, to
promote his own interest, he broke the most solemn treaties with the
king of France ; he considered principle as nothing, when the sacrifice
of it promised to produce him a benefit. It is well known, that, with-
out any scruple, he married Eleanor of Aquitaine, so famous for her de-
baucheries, and branded by her divorce from Louis the Seventh. He
ungratefully confined this very woman in chains, though she had broucrht
him one fourth o( France as her marriage portion. He was a bad
father, quarrelled with all his children, and became engaged in wars on
every side. As a king, he tyrannized over his nobles, and took pleasure
in confounding all their privileges ; like his predecessors, he was the
sworn enemy of the popes ; he attacked their rights, persecuted their
adherents, sent back their legates with contempt, encroached upon the
privileges and immunities of the church, and gloried in supporting the
most unjust usurpers of them ; which led to the martyrdom of St.
Thomas of Canterbury. Again, his debaucheries are admitted by
every historian. No one is ignorant that he went so far as to seduce
the young Alix, who had been betrothed to his son Richard, and that
all the misfortunes which filled the latter part of his life with affliction,
were caused by this passion, as obstinate as it was criminal and base.
Behold the apostle, the reformer, whom the holy see would have
chosen to convert Ireland ! The witnesses, we here bring forth, are
not to be suspected. Cambrensis himself, whose opinions I have
elsewhere reflited, is the first to acknowledge the irregularities of Henry
the Second."

" The pope refused either to see or hear ihe ambassadors, whom
Henry had sent to exculpate himself from the murder of Thomas of
Canterbury ; but the Roman court cried out, ' Desist, desist,' as if it
were impioift for the pope to hear the name of Henry, who had sent
them. By the general advice of the council, the pope dispensed with
expressly mentioning the name of the king, and the country beyond the
sea." — Hoveden, p. 526.

" These bulls have, in fact, all the appearance of forgery. They are
not to be met with in any collection. It appears, also, that Henry the
Second considered them so insufficient to strengthen his dominion in
Ireland, that he solicited Pope Lucius the Third, who succeeded

564 M MUKROUGH S DEATH.

Alexander, to confirm them ; but that pope was too just to authorize
his usurpation, and paid no regard to a considerable sum of money
which the king sent to him."

Daniel O'Connell, the Liberator, has given it as his opinion, that
these bulls were forgeries.

The Irish princes did not act, unfortunately, that independent
part which became men who lived in this crisis of their country's
affairs. Divided among themselves, and submissive to the ordinances
of the church, while we revere their feelings as Christians, we cannot
but deplore their conduct and tame submission as freemen. That this
was the true cause of Ireland's unaccountable toleration of the invaders
on her soil maybe gathered from the letter, written by the great O'Neill,,
kino of Ulster, in 1330, and presented to John the Twenty-second, pope
of Rome, in the name of the Irish nation, which I have published at
length towards the conclusion of this lecture. " During the course of so
many ages, our sovereigns preserved the independency of their country,"
says O'Neill : " attacked more than once by foreign powers, they
wanted neither force nor courage to repel the bold invaders ; but that
which they dared to do against force, they could not attempt to da
against the simple decree of one of your predecessors, Adrian."

Such were the causes of the subjection of a portion of Ireland to
English juii-diction.

Those who followed Henry the Second to Ireland were the descend-
ants of the Norman conquerors, who were again the progeny of the
Danish barbarians that settled in France, and founded the kingdom of
Normandy. Neither their association with the French, nor with the
Anglo-Saxons since their arrival in England, tended to diminish their
ferocity. During the century that preceded the invasion of Ireland,
they were continually under arms, either to crush the rebellious Saxons,
battle with the Scots, or subjugate the Welsh. And these are the
people who, Cambrensis says, introduced civilization into Ireland.

The infamous M'Murrough, or Dei'mot, as he is sometimes called,
died in the midst of the desolations he had called down upon'his country.
This execrable wretch died a shocking spectacle ; his body was covered
with a hideous leprosy, and he expired in the greatest misery, without
friends, pity, or spiritual comfort.

Previous to Henry's arrival, I should have told that the valiant
O'Ruark, at the head of his own knights, made one more brave effort
to free his native land. He attacked Dublin sword in hand, and,
having drawn Miles Cogan, the governor, and his garrison, outside of the

DEATH OF o'rUARK. 565

fortifications, a bloody battle was fought between them, which produced
no other effect than the loss of many lives. The son of O'Ruark,
having signalized himself by his valor in the thick of the battle, was
mortally wounded, with several of his followers, who sold their lives
dearly to the Enghsh, of whom also a great number fell on the field of
battle.

Subsequently a conference was held between O'Ruark and De Lacy
to make a peace, which was proposed by the English, and. while the
negotiation was proceeding on the hill of Tara, between both leaders,
who left their armies in the valleys, and ascended with their interpreters
to the hill, seven English knights went up its side, tilting in jest, — they
soon fell upon O'Ruark ; and, in the presence of both armies, the
valiant hero was stabbed to the heart, upon which his followers were
rushed upon, at the moment of panic, and cut to pieces or dispersed.

It cannot but gratify every Irishman, in America and Ireland, to learn
that the philosopher, statesman, and litterateur of America, .John
QuiNCY Adams, has written a beautiful poem, founded on the unfortu-
nate affairs in the history of Ireland, brought on by the traitor Dorniot.
I take leave to insert a dozen stanzas selected at rar.dc m, snd to
notice that, in his able preface, Mr. Adams justly reproves the mcial
veracity of Hume, who painted Henry the Second as a hero : —

" So much for Hume's philosophy, teaching by the example of Henry
the Second. If there be, in the annals of the human race, a transaction
of deeper and more melancholy depravity than the conquest of Ireland
by Henry the Second, it has not fallen under my notice. It would
seem as if it could not be accomplished but by a complication of the
most odious crimes, public and private." —

"Among those kings, there rose, from time to time,

One braver or more skilful than the rest,
With brighter parts, and genius more sublime,

Who bore among tliem all a loftier crest:
His power, while in the vigor of his prime,

O'er the whole island was at once impressed ;
And at the time precise of which I sing,
Roderick O'Connor was fair Erin's king.

"And tlien the people were, as they are now,

A careless, thoughtless, brave, kind-hearted race,
Witii boiling bosom, and with dauntless brow,
With shrewdest humor, and with laughing face ;

566 POEM OF JOHN Q,UINCY ADAMS ON THIS INVASION.

Their women, purer than the virgin's vow,

Blooming in beauty, and adorned witli grace;
But some exceptions, I must own, were there,
As in all ages may be found elsewhere.

" Christians they had been from St. Patrick's day ;

Their priests for learning had been long renowned;
Though not accustomed Peter's pence to pay,

Nor tithes unto the pontiff triple-crowned.
Music they loved; they loved the minstrel's lay;

Their hearts were tuned to harmony of sound ;
As if from heaven's most hallowed notes it stole,
The harp of Erin searched the inmost soul."

ON DERMOT'S PRESENTING HIS DAUGHTER TO STRONGBOW, THE

INVADER.

" And Dermot promised him fair Eva's hand ;

And thus his country and his daughter sold :
O ! who can read the record of that land.

And mark her miseries, with bosom cold ?
If it must boil to see before us stand

A wretch who barters liberty for gold.
To see one, with what anguish must it swell,
At once himself, his child, his country sell?"

ON THE FIRST SKIRMISHES WITH THE INVADERS.

" But let not Erin suffer in your mind ;

If her brave children once were known to flee, —
Consult Columbia's annals, you shall find

The same with those who sought to make her free.
In sooth, militia-men you cannot bind

To serve for six months when engaged for three : —
Whence you may come to this conclusion just.
On raw militia not too much to trust"

HENRY'S MOCK SYNOD.

"At Cashell now a synod was convened
Of all the holy prelates of the land ;

And not a sin or frailty could be gleaned,
But stood exp6sed before that sag-ed band.

No crime was sheltered, not a vice was screened,

POEM OF JOHN QUINCY ADAJIS ON THIS INVASION. 567

Of all that called for the reforming hand;
And what the sins were, would tlie .reader learn,
From the proposed reforms he shall discern.

" First, wedlock never must be solemnized.

Of kin within canonical degrees ;
And children must in public be baptized.

And taught to know at least the church's fees;
And lands and tenements should be devised

To wives and children as the sire should please ;
The dead in churchyards only buried be ;
And all the church's lands from taxes free.

"This was the searching process of refonn,

A precious model for all after times ;
This was to justify invasion's storm,

And Strongbow's robberies and Dermot's crimes.
One vice suppressed will sometimes breed a swarm,

As has been witnessed since, in other climes ;
But Avhen, O when, did Conquest ever dare
Unveil her Gorgon face, with snakes so rare ? "

THE DEATH OF DERMOT.

"And to his wildered senses, Erin's saints

Appear with lighted torches in their hands,
Applying scorpion scourges till he faints.

And then reviving him with biazing brands ;
While o'er his head a frowning Fury paints.

In letters which he reads and understands,
' Expect no mercy from thy Maker's hand !
Thou hadst no mercy on thy native land.'

"And to the shades the indignant spirit fled,

And THUS was Erin's conquest first achieved ;

Thus Albion's monarch first became her head ;
And now her freedom shall be soon retrieved.

For (mark the Muse — if rightly she has read,
Let this her voice prophetic be believed,)

Soon, soon shall dawn the day, as dawn it must,

When Erin's sceptre shall be Erin's trust."

I have shown that the English first obtained a footing by stratagem
and treachery, coupled with the baseness of Dermot, than whom Ire-
land, nor no other country, ever gave birth to a greater villain. I have

568 REFLECTIONS ON THIS INVASION.

shown that these foreigners, on the approach of Roderick, the Irish
monarch, at the head of an Irish army many times more than sufficient
to exterminate them, swore, on the altar of Wexford, to quit the coun-
try forthwith, — instead of which, when their Uves were spared, they
Invited over more adventurers. I liave shown that the forged bull of
Pope Adrian, who was an Englishman, conferred on Henry the Second
the government of Ireland, and that such was the deference paid by
the clergy, and the great body of the people of Ireland, to this mandate
of the holy see, that it neutralized that resistance which the Irish
would otherwise have offered to the handful of invaders, who landed in the
train of the English king. But Henry never . exercised any authority
over any part of Ireland, save the seven counties on the eastern coast,
known for many centuries as the English Pale, which diminished at
length to four counties, at which limit it was found on the accession
of Henry the Eighth. An agreement was finally made between
Roderick, king of Connaught, and Henry the Second, that Roderick
should remain king of the Irish, who were to be governed as usud
by Irish laws, and that the English settlers within the Pale should
be subject to English laws, and to the English king. This is re-
corded by the learned Irish historian, Gratianus Lucius, (Lynch.)
He says, " CathoUcus O' Duhhthy returned from England, with peace
agreed to, on these conditions with the king of England, — that
Roderick should be king of the Irish, and that the provinces should
be governed by their kings as usual, subject to chiefry to Roderick, he
paying tribute to Henry, at the rate of one hide for every ten oxen
killed in his territory."

English writers are prone to construe this peace, entered into with the
English monarch, as a submission; but such it never was. Neither the
laws of England, nor the mandates of the king of England, ever pene-
trated farther into Ireland, for four hundred years after this period, than
the semicircle I have described as the Pale. How, then, can the
English claim power in Ireland, by virtue of this pretended conquest!
Let it be well remembered, that the laws and authority of England
were acknowledged only amongst the English settlers of the Pale for
that long period. The Pale, be it also noted, did not extend to the
one eighth of the kingdom.

Certain it is that the English, by marriage with the old Irish
families in the interior, by intrigue, by border battles and acts of
treachery, obtained some property and power, in the long course of
four hundred years, in different parts of Ireland. But this property

HENRY THE SECOND DID NOT CONQUER IRELAND. 569

and this power they held and exercised as Irish princes, subject
to the old Irish laws and customs, to which they every where
gave a preference, not only because they were in their nature very
equitable and very just, but because the common people revered these
old laws as celestial judgments, and the new comers were too crafty to
alarm the people by introducing any English laws, at variance with the
received notions of justice, which time had consecrated in the minds of
the nation.

That Henry the Second did not conquer Ireland, as is affected by
some, we have the authority of Sir John Davies, the English attorney-
general of King James the First of England. He says, " Henry de-
parted out of Ireland without striking one blow, or building one castle,
or planting one garrison among ^he Irish, neither left behind him one
true subject more than those he found there at his first coming over,
which were only the English adventurers spoken of before, who had
gained some port towns in Leinster and Munster, and possessed some
scopes of land thereunto adjoining." And this is that conquest of King
Henry the Second, so much spoken of by so many writers.

And Plowden, another English historian, remarks on this pretended
conquest as follows : —

" Notwithstanding the nominal or pretended conquest of the whole
kingdom of Ireland by Henry the Second, and the grant and confirma-
tion thereof by the Popes Adrian and Alexander, the truth is, that the
English power and authority, during the reign of Henry the Second,
was confined, and it so continued for above four hundred years, to a
certain district afterwards called the Pole. This district comprised the
counties of Dublin, Kildare, Meath, and Uriel, with the seaport cities
of Waterford, Cork, and Limerick, and the lands immediately surround-
ing them. Over the other parts of the kingdom, which were ivithout
the Pale, comprising twenty-seven counties, neither Henry the Second,
nor a7iy of his successors, until the reign of James the First, either had,
or even pretended to claim, more than a naked, or nominal and empty
tide ; insomuch, that Sir John Davies says, that England never ^ciit
over either numbers of men, or quantities of treasure, sufficient to
defend the small territory of the Pale, much less to reduce that which
was lost.

" Accordingly," continues Plowden, " the English adventurers

governed their district by their own model. The native chiefs,

owning by far the greatest part of Ireland, acted independently

of the English government, made war and peace, entered into

570 THE ENGLISH COLONY OF THE PALE.

leagues and treaties, not only amongst each other, but with foreign
powers, and punished malefactors by their own laws, customs, and
constitutions."

Having shown by what foul means the inhabitants of England first
obtained power in Ireland, I must inform the reader that it is my inten-
tion to pass rapidly over the affairs of the English colony in Ireland
for a period of three hundred years. Their story is told by their own
historians, who were the hired traducers of the " Irish enemy ; " and as
safely might the present history of Ireland be taken from the London
Times, as from Cambrensis, Cox, Leland, Carte, and other such writers,
from whom Mr. Moore principally draws his miserable History.

Few manuscript accounts of those black times, written by the Irish
themselves, have come to our hands. ,The chiefs kept their bards, who
wrote the family registers, till the period of the reformation, when all
the family observances, with law and justice, were swamped in one
common gulf.

For three centuries, the government and affairs of the English
colony in Ireland were so totally distinct from the Irish nation which
surrounded that colony on every side, and it was kept so exclusively
English by enactments, interests, prejudices, and the commands of the
master government in England, that its affairs are of no more interest
to the Irishman of the present day, than those of France, Norway, or
any other nation of Europe.

During all this time, the Irish princes, in three fourths of Ireland,
were perfectly independent of England, and of each other. The only
change wrought by the English invasion in their general condition, was
merely the abolition of a supreme monarch in the country. We have
many, very many instances of the English within the Pale submitting
to pay tribute to the Irish princes, who reigned outside it, and vice versa.
I have no desire to swell my book to inconvenient dimensions with the
unpleasant history of those border battles, attended sometimes with
unusual barbarity on both sides, and in which the quarrels of the
English with each other are as conspicuous as those of the Irish.
Let some other pen indulge in the disagreeable work. 1 care not
either to read about them, or write about them.

There are certain general outlines, however, that, to preserve the
necessary connection of history, I am bound to sketch, which I shall
contract as much as 1 possibly can.

In some time after Henry the Second's return to England, he

PRINCE John's defeat. — abdication of Roderick. 571

assembled a council at Oxford, Anno Domini 1177, and there conferred
upon his son John the title of " Lord of Ireland." William Fitzaldelm
was the first English deputy appointed to rule Ireland, who was sent,
in 1178, by Henry the Second; and from that appointment to the
present, the entire history of the lord lieutenants of Ireland is nearly
the same throughout — pervaded with jobbing, favoritism, treachery,
alternately towards English and Irish, seeking whom among the Irish
they may safely rob, seeking whom among their own they may, with
the greatest personal eclat, promote.

On the young Prince John's arrival in Ireland, his petulant and
supercilious manner towards the Irish, drove into rebellion many of those
who were won or coaxed into obedience by his father. Prince John lost
nearly his entire army in his conflicts with the natives ; and here again,
had they been but unanimous, and submitted to one brave man, they
might have reestablished the independence of their country ; but fate
seemed to work against them ! Prince John was soon recalled, and all
the powers of government placed in the hands of De Courcy.

De Courcy entered Connaught in great force, but was met there by
the combined arms of Limerick and Connaught, and quickly put to
flight. He subsequently sallied into the north, and, with only a handful
of picked and well-armed men, defeated the unprepared natives, and
seized upon a wide territory.

The Irish now began to feel the pulsations of men ; and, had they
placed Donald O'Brien at their head, there is not the slightest doubt
but they would have driven every invader out of their kingdom ; but the
northern chieftains wasted their strength in petty battles, instead of
uniting to free the land from the common foe. ^

Geraldus Cambrensis, who wrote the first lying history of Ireland,
attempted, in the presence of Maurice, archbishop of Cashell, to dis-
parage the Irish clergy, by charging on them, amongst other things,
that, from the days of St. Patrick, they had not a single martyr
amongst them: — "True," said Maurice, "but there are those now
amongst us who have made martyrs in their own country, and who
have been accustomed to make martyrs. From henceforth Ireland will
have her martyrs in abundance ! "

Roderick O'Connor, who had, for some time, retired from the
throne to a monastery, saw, from his retreat, his kingdom of Connaught
torn to pieces by his sons. On every side were to be seen either the
battles of chieftains or the advancing armies of the invaders.

572 DEATH OF HENRY THE SECOND. KING JOHN. MAGNA CHARTA.

Henry the Second died in Normandy, 1189, cursing his children, all
of whom attempted in turn to have him murdered.

At King Henry's death, he was succeeded by his son Richard, and, on
his death, by John, from whom the charter of liberty, known as Magna
Charta, was wrung by the barons and clergy on the field of Runnymede.
This Great Charter was not so much an introduction of any new law as
It was a recognition of the old customs, observed and in force before the
conquest — customs, be it observed, the majority of which had their
origin in Ireland, and were transplanted by Alfred, in the tenth century,
to England.

Magna Charta — the birthright of Englishmen — ordains that all
freemen shall be allowed to go out of the kingdom and return to it at
pleasure ; one weight and one measure shall be established throughout
the entire kingdom ; courts of justice shall be stationary, and not ambu-
latory, with the king. (Previous to this, the king went his rounds, ad-
ministering justice in person, and by assistants.) Circuits were to be
held regularly every year; and justice no longer to be sold, refused,
or delayed; merchants allowed to transact all business without being
exposed to tolls and impositions ; no freeman to be taken, or impris-
oned, or dispossessed of his free tenement or liberties, or outlawed, or
banished, or any wise hurt or injured, unless by the legal judgment of
his peers and the law of the land. Lastly, there was a stipulation in
favor of the villains, a sort of slave or serf class, attached to the great
man's estate. This class, though the most numerous of all, were not
before this deemed worthy of legislative notice. It was ordained that
they should not be deprived by a fine of their carts, and their ploughs,
and implements of industry. ^

This Great Charter was ratified four times by Henry the Third ; twice
by Edward the First ; fifteen times by Edward the Third ; seven times
by Richard the Second ; six times by Henry the Fourth ; and once
by Henry the Fifth : but was trampled under foot by Henry the
Eighth ; revived by Queen Mary ; subverted again by Elizabeth ; and
has never since been fairly allowed to operate in England or Ireland.
Lord Casdereagh's Six Acts, and Alphabet Smith's mode of packing
a jury, have completely subverted it in our aays.

In these times, the language in common use in England was, — in
the church and professions, Latin ; at court, French ; and among the
common people, old Saxon. It was usual to have public documents
and addresses published and read in three different languages. For

AN IRISH CHAMPION. HENRY THE THIRD. 573

three or four centuries, great confusion of tongues prevailed in Eng-
land. In Ireland, the language of the great body of the people re-
mained Irish, and in ecclesiastical offices, Latin. The language of
the English Pale, amongst the gentry class, was Latin, with a little
French ; but the majority of the English spoke the Irish language in
common affairs. The English language had yet no regular existence ;
and finally it was compounded, by the action of time, into that dialect
which exists at this day, of French, Latin, old Saxon, and Irish, called
the " English language."

It is recorded that, in this reign, a French champion came over to
England to fight any one who should assert that Philip, king of France,
had done wrong to King John. Great was the consternation of the
courtiers of John at this threat, for, in those days, matters of the highest
import were submitted to personal combat ; and such was the renown
of the French champion, that none in^ England dared to face him. At
length it was suggested to the king, that there was an Irish chief, of great
bodily strength and personal bravery, confined in the Tower, as a state
prisoner, who was taken in the late Irish wars. This brave captive was
offered his freedom on condition of encountering the French bravo. On
the day fixed for the encounter, the Frenchman was not forthcoming ;
he had stolen off to Spain, not daring for shame to return to France. The
English monarch wished for some exhibition of his champion's strength,
before the assembled thousands who came to witness the encounter.
Upon this, there was a post, or trunk of a tree, set in the earth, and on it
was fixed a steel helmet. At the first blow of his sword, the Irish
champion cut the helmet in two; and at the second blow, buried his
sword so deeply in the tree, that seven of the strongest of the by-standers
could not draw it out ; it was removed only by himself. This fact is
related by Wade, in his Recent History of England. King John, having
partly conquered Scotland, made another descent on Ireland, with a
great army. On this occasion, he received homage from eleven Irish
chiefs, or lords, but was obliged to return to England, where he soon
after died.

Henry the Third came to the throne of England, but his wars with
the Welsh occupied his attention and forces ; and it is a little re-
markable that, even thus early in the career of England, the king's chief
force, in his movement on Wales, was made up of Irish conscripts, which
he compelled into his ranks. We find also, in this reign, divisions grow-
ing up between the English chiefs in Ireland. The Irish now assumed

574 WALES ANNEXED TO ENGLAND. WALLACE, OF SCOTLAND.

more courage, and reconquered from the invaders a considerable portion
of their lost territory.

Edward the First came to the English throne 1272. In 1300, he
held the first assembly in England called a parliament, a shadow of
which was soon after held in the English colony in Ireland. Amongst
the very first acts of this shq^dow was the institution of a tax on the
estates of Irish absentees for the maintenance of the king's army.

It seems that, in the parliament held in Kilkenny, 1309, the murder
of an Irishman was declared a crime not punishable by law, nor the
violation of chastity, if on an Irish woman, a crime. See the cases
referred to by Lynch, in Moore, 324. In 1317, on petition to the
king, a parliament was ordained to be holden in Dubhn every year.

Several battles were fought, during tliis reign, between the Irish and
the invaders, during which the natives gained considerable advantages,
having captured one lord lieutenant and killed another ; which suc-
cesses, if only followed up with unity, would have completely reestab-
lished Ireland in her independence.

In this reign, the ancient and independent kingdom of Wales was
annexed to the crown of England. The celebrated Llewellyn, the last
Welsh king, having fallen in the field of battle, his forces fled. But the
crafty Edward, having offered terms of peace to the Welsh, invited
a grand convocation of all their bards, who were collected together with
great industry, by a certain day, when the king had them surrounded,
and barbarously butchered. By this means he put it out of the power
of the Welsh leaders to reanimate their countrymen by the songs and
music of their favorite bards, for there was hardly one left alive in all
Wales. The same king marched into Scotland, took Baliol, the king,
and several of the nobility, prisoners, and carried to London the cele-
brated Stone of Destiny, which had been sent over from Ireland with
Feargus, the Irish prince, eight hundred years previously. On this
celebrated stone, as I have already noticed at length, were the kings
of Ireland crowned for many ages. It has remained in Westminster
Abbey since that time. On it is engraved, in Irish lines, —

" Or Fate's deceived, and Heaven decrees in vain,
Or where they find this stone the Scots shall reign."

It was in this reign that the celebrated Wallace, of Scotland, rose
against the English power. His brave followers were defeated, and ten
thousand of them slain in one engagement. He was himself taken

BRUCE. INVENTIONS OF THIS AGE. 575

prisoner, and executed. But he was succeeded by the celebrated Rob-
ert Bruce, who defeated the Enghsh in several battles. When King
Edward summoned the Irish to aid him in his wars against the valiant
Bruce, not one of them, thanli God, responded. It is a shining .ray
upon their fame ! Finally, the king of England suddenly dying, Scot-
land reassumed her kingly powers.

About this time, clocks were first used in England. Coal was dis-
covered in Newcastle. The use of the magnetic needle, which had
been lost to the world from the time of the Phoenicians, was now redis-
covered. About the same year, the use of spectacles was introduced by
a monk of Pisa. Matthew Paris, the celebrated historian of England,
died ; he was a Benedictine monk. Tin was now first discovered in
Germany: before that time, none was heard of out of England.

At the same time, gunpowder was invented by a monk of Cologne;
and in the course of fifteen years from its invention, viz., 1346, cannon
were first used by Edward the Third, with great effect, at the battle
of Cressy, in France.

In the troubled reign of Edward the Second, about 1315, the
Irish, taking courage, and observing the success of the Scots, resolved on
doing something worthy of their former fame.

After the glorious battle of Bannockburn, Bruce was invited by the
Irish to be their king : in this instance, the common lineage, language,
customs, and laws, of both people were dwelt on as a ground for their
friendship. Bruce sent his brother Edward to Ireland, who was
evidently an inferior commander. He landed in the north, 1315, with
six thousand men, and, being joined by vast numbers of the Irish, sud-
denly overran the whole of Ulster, and approached Dublin. Robert
Bruce himself soon after joined him, and both armies marched through
the country towards Limerick, but evidently with no other intent than
laying waste and burning every thing in their way. Edward, in the
course of three years, encountered tlje English in eighteen battles in Ire-
land, in every one of which he had been victorious ; but was killed in a
battle, solely by the desperate valor of one John Mampus, who rushed
in among the Scots and Irish, and stabbed Bruce to the heart ; and
though Mamphus was instantly killed, the Scots were routed. Upon
this occasion, the Connaught chiefs came boldly forward, giving
the English battle: however, ten thousand Irish were killed on the
field, together with Bmce, and the very flower of the Irish chiefs ;
insomuch that hardly one of the O'Connor name was left alive ; after
which Robert Bruce returned to Scotland. This effort, though

576 BEIGN OF EDWARD THE THIRD.

not successful, had the effect of driving the English into their forti-
fied towns ; and we are told by Ware and others that the English
king's laws were not, for a long time after this, obeyed twenty miles
from the city of Dublin.

During the first and second Edward's time, the power of the English
in Ireland had considerably decHned from what it was in the time of
Henry the Second, or King John.

The Pale was now (in the time of Edward the Third) parcelled out
among nine lords, who exercised the functions of kings over their own
people. King Edward sent over his mandate to establish ,the English
laws throughout all Ireland, but the great men hiterposed, and baffled
his intention. To show how small was the power of some of these
English earls, it is enough to record, that, when Edward the Third
wrote to the Earl of Kildare, to assist him at the siege of Calais, the
earl went promptly, bringing to his majesty's assistance thirty men at
arms, and forty hobbillers, for which the earl received the honor of
kniirhthood from the king.

During Edward's reign, (who seemed disposed to do all that an
English monarch could do to distribute justice amongst the Irish,) an
ordinance was passed giving the Irish parliament full cognizance over
the courts of law in Ireland, and putting an end to appeals to the
English courts — a most important measure.

The ancestors of the present Clanrickard and Lord Mayo were
Englishmen. The De Burghs, or Burkes, who obtained territory in
the west of Ireland, to ingratiate themselves with the Irish, not only
assumed their dress, language, and habits, but absolutely assumed the
distinction Mac. The first called himself M'' William Eighter, and the
second M^ William Oughter. This example was followed by many.
The Blrminghams took the name of M'Yoris ; Dexecester, that of
M'Jordan ; Nangle, or De Angulo, that of M'Costelloe. Like changes
took place among some branches of the Fitzgeralds, in Munster. The
chief of the house of Lixnaw was called M'Maurice ; another was known
by the name of M'Gibbon. These are at present called Fitzmaurice
and Fitzgibbon, the articles Mac and Fitz being of the same significa-
tion, namely, so7i of such a one.* The Buders of Dunboyne took the
name of M'Pheris ; the Condons of Walerford were called M'Maioge;
and in the same way many others. It ajipears that the new colonies,
which were sent, under different reigns, from England to Ireland, were
always careful to sow discord between the neio and old Irish, who gener-

* It i.iust be noted that Fitz originally implied a bastard son.

O'CONNELL TERRITOKY. STATUTES OF KILKENNY. 577

ally lived in harmony with each other. This unity became a source
of uneasiness to the English, and gave rise to the celebrated statute of
Kilkenny, above alluded to, which is still preserved, in French, in the
library of Lambeth. By this law, the English by descent, who had
settled in Ireland, were prohibited, under the penalties of high treason,
from having any intercourse with the ancient Irish, — to form alliances
with them by marriage, to speak their language, to imitate their mode of
dress, to adopt their names, to confer livings on them, or admit them
into monasteries or religious houses, he. This law was revived after-
wards, and confirmed in a parliament held at Drogheda, under Henry
the Seventh ; and from thenceforward there were " English rebels " to
the king of England's authority, and Irish enemies.

The Lansdowne, Desmond, and Leinster families have trailed down to
us from Raymond Le Gros, who was the most daring commander that
followed Strongbow into Ireland.

The ancient patrimony of the O'Connells, one of the territories
obtained by the ancestors of the Earl of Desmond, was that of
O^Konayl, now called the barony of ConneUoe, in the county of
Limerick. This tract, amounting to one hundred thousand acres, was
ceded to the Desmonds, by the native chieftain, in exchange for other
tracts received from them in the counties of Clare and Kerry, where
branches of the O'Connell family continue to the present day, the
chief of whom is Daniel O'Connell, the Liberator. By a petition from
the great lords and clergy to the king, dated in this reign, it appears
that the Irish had conquered back more than one third of the lands
previously seized by the English ; in consequence of which his liege
English subjects were in want of provisions.

In Edward the Third's reign, many noble widows, who drew large
incomes from Ireland, were compelled to contribute, as " absentees," to
the king's exchequer, and for the protection of their estates in Ireland.
At the memorable parliament, called by his son, the Duke of Clarence,
at Kilkenny, in 1367, the celebrated penal laws were passed against the
Irish, " that intermarriages with the natives, or any connection with
them, in the way of fostering or gossipred, should be considered and
punished as high treason ; that any man, of English race, assuming an
Irish name, or using the Irish language, apparel, or customs, should
forfeit all his lands and tenements ; that to adopt or submit to the
brehon law was treason ; that the English should not permit the Irish
to pasture or graze upon their lands, nor admit them to any ecclesias-
73

578 ACTS AGAINST ABSENTEES.

tical benefices or religious houses, nor entertain their minstrels, rhymer^,
or news-tellers." Thus, while all the lower classes of Irish were pro-
hibited from pasturage within English limits, all the better ranks were
excluded from the great road to wealth and honor, the church, — all
put under the ban of exclusion, as unworthy to live with their fellow-
men.

At the -parliament of the Little Pale, held in Trim, in the reign of
Edward the Fourth, 1465, it was enacted that all persons suspected of
going or coming to rob, by day or by night, having no man dressed in
English apparel in their company, might be seized by any liegeman or
subject of the king of England, and be put to death. A premium was
offered to those who would bring in the heads of all such to the town of
Trim, where such heads were affixed on stakes ; and a fine of twopence
on every ploughland in the county, levied by statute to recoinpense the
captor. Thus was there, in fact, a price set on the head of every
Irishman ; and the English of the Pale, supported by the power of
their countrymen in England, were, by these means, encouraged, taught,
and incited to acts of the most cruel depredation upon such defenceless
natives as fell in their way.

On this head Plowden, quoting Sir John Davies, says, " Imagination can
scarcely devise an extreme of antipathy, hatred, and revenge, to which
this code of aggravation was not calculated to provoke both nations.
Wherever the English lords obtained a footing by petty conquest, they
quartered their soldiers on the inhabitants." " And when die husband-
man had labored all the year, the soldiers," says Sir John Davies, "did
consume, in one night, all the fruits of his labor, which produced two
notorious effects — first, it made the land waste, and next it made the
people idle ; lastly, it did force and necessarily make the Irish a crafty
people."

Yet, notwithstanding all this harshness, so generally had the Irish
reconquered their hereditary lands from the invaders, that, in this reign,
not more than four counties in thirty-two remained under the authority
of the crown of England. Many of the English petitioned the king to
be relieved from paying soccage on lands long since captured back from
them by the Irish. The entire revenue raised by the king of England,
in Ireland, did not equal ten thousand pounds a year.

On the death of this prince, the crown of England fell to Richard
the Second, anno 1377.

In 1379, in consequence of a petition from Ireland, an act was passed

INEFFECTUAL, EFFOKTS TO CONQUER IRELAND. ^19

in the English parliament against Irish absentees. It was ordained
that all who possessed lands, rents, or offices, in that kingdom, should
forthwith repair thither, and become residents, for the purpose of
watching and defending the same, otherwise forfeit two thirds of their
income towards the defence of the country. Some exceptions were
made in favor of persons temporarily absent on business, — in the
universities, or in the service of the king. But, even from those, one-
third of their income was deducted.

Such was the opposition of the Irish to the English invaders, during
the whole of this reign, that, upon the opening of every English parlia-
ment, the king found it necessary to apply for money and men, to " carry
on the war in Ireland," though at this time the invaders had been
two centuries in the country.

Richard himself embarked for Ireland, with t!iirty-five thousand men,
determined to reduce the entire country. Several of the Irish chieftains
did him homage ; and, upon his proposal to knight them, they declined
that honor, answering they had been knighted since they were seven
years of age, when lances had been put into their hands, with which
they tilted against shields.

The king being suddenly recalled by the bishops to quell some disturb-
ances at home, the Irish chiefs again invaded the Pale, and killed the lord
lieutenant in battle. In five years after this, King Richard reentered Ire-
land with all the forces he could collect throughout his dominions from
sea to sea. Impressments for the fleet were every where made ; large
sums were levied ; even the bishops and clergy of England gave their
thousand pounds apiece to the king's fund for the conquest of Ireland.
The king's forces, on this occasion, are estimated variously from forty to
fifty thousand men. On his approach, some of the Irish chieftains again
submitted ; but MMurrough, the hereditary prince of Leinster, as if
anxious to retrieve the fallen honor of his house, retired to his woods,
and, with only three thousand brave men, bade defiance to the king of
England and all his forces. The royal army surrounded the woods, but
M'Murrough refuged to come out, while every effort to dislodge him
was attended with certain loss to the king's troops. At length his
majesty prepared to cut his way into the woods ; but this did not better
his chances, for, at each new step, his men and officers fell in small
parties by the hands of the Irish, who are described by the chroniclers
as nimble and active. A message was at length sent to this noble
chieftain by King Richard, to ascertain what terms he demanded as the

580 BRAVE RESISTANCE OF THE IRISH.

price of his submission to England ; to which he replied, " Not all the
gold in the world would tempt me into submission." King Richard's
army being now in want of provisions, his majesty was obliged to return
to Dublin, the Irish hanging all the way upon his rear, and cutting
off hundreds of his dispirited followers.

Albemarle now arrived from England with reenforcements, and the
king determined to return upon M'Murrough, and exterminate him and
all his followers ; however, the celebrated Bolingbroke, duke of Lan-
caster, had organized a rebellion in England, and was in the field with
great numbers of knights and bowmen, to usurp the crown of England.
This called Richard hastily back from Ireland, according to Davies and
Froissart, with little advantage, and without realizing any. AUhough he
had expended enormous sums in conveying his army to Ireland, he did
not add a pound to his revenue, nor extend the frontiers of his English
province one acre. The courts of law were still confined within the
boundaries of the colony, where they had been acknowledged before
bis arrival in Ireland. His crown, however, was now on the head of his
rival, who was elected by the parliament king of England, by the title
of Henry the Fourth, A. D. 1395 ; and Ireland remained still un-
conquered.

Now began the ware of the White and Red Roses in England,
between the two great houses of York and Lancaster. During these
wars, the colony of the English invaders, in Ireland, was governed
by some wretched deputy, who called around him, in Dublin Castle,
his little pariiament of English lords, magnates, bishops, and judges,
and made such regulations for their own small territory of four
counties as they judged best. As an evidence of the high state of
civilization of the members of this pariiament, it is recorded that
Bartholomew Vernon, and three other Englishmen, members of that
body, attacked the sheriff of Meath, in the house, while it was sitting,
and murdered him, and, though imprisoned, were ultimately pardoned
by the king.

These were a sample of the men who came to civilize the " wild
Irish."

The chief, M'Murrough, in 1407, after remaining a long time quiet,
was vanquished in a noble battle, in which, for several hours of the day,
the Irish maintained a decided ascendency in the field.

In 1408, the statutes of Kilkenny and Dublin were confirmed in
a pariiament, held in Dublin, when the clauses against absentees were
strictly enforced.

BLACK RENT. 581

The O'Byrnes of Wicklow were the most troublesome chieftains
which the English invaders encountered in this reign, and it proves,
better than all the histories ever written by scoundrels, either English or
Irish, that the latter remained at this time unconquered, even within
sight of the walls of Dublin. In the following year, (1409,) say the
annals, " A parliament was held at Dublin by the acting lord lieutenant
of Ireland, (viz., Thomas Butler, prior of Kilmainham,) who, having
imprudently ventured, with about fifteen hundred infantry, to invade
the O'Byrnes country, one half of his followers deserted to the
enemy, and he narrowly escaped a serious and disgraceful defeat."
It is probable his defeat was most serious, for he did not, during the
remainder of his administration, renew the attack on the O'Byrnes.
When we remember that the " O'Byrnes country" is located in the valley
of the Wicklow Mountains, and plainly within view of the citizens of
Dublin, we may then judge of the actual extent of British conquest, in
Ireland, in the year 1410, two hundred and forty years after the
landing of the first invaders,.

At this time, the Pale was so hemmed in on every side, that leave
was given, by the lord lieutenant, to any of the English lords, to make
such terms of peace with the Irish enemy as they could, and to marry or
trade with them, or let pastures to them ; and finally things went so severe
with the English, that they compromised with the Irish chiefs on their
borders for peace by paying them tribute as their vassals, which was
called the blacJc rent. And in an address delivered about the same
time by the speaker of the English house of commons, we find it
openly admitted " that the greater part of the lordship of Ire-
land had, at this time, been conquered by the natives." — See
Lingard.

Henry the Fifth arrived at the English throne anno 1416. He won
victories in France, by a band of Irishmen, who were prisoners,
and whom he compelled to fight, in his foreign armies, at the siege of
Rouen, which they captured, and at Pontoise, where, owing to their
bravery, the king's enemies were scattered. — See Monstrelef s Account
of the English Invasions of France.

Various were the battles of the Lord Lieutenant Talbot, at this time,
against the neighboring chiefs, M'Murrough, O'Dempsey, O'Moore,
M'Mahon. The clergy, we are told, educated in English principles,
prayed and offered masses for the success of the English arms, and
even intercession was made with the pope to induce him to excommu-

582 ' LAW AGAINST BEARDS.

nicate those Irish chiefs who refused to submit, with which, however,
he does not seem to have compUed. Irish law students, at the King's
Inns, London, though born of Enghsh parents, were refused admission ;
Irish candidates for the priesthood, if Irish, were positively refused
admission to the colleges, or ordination, and all this, be it never forgotten,
when the religion of the two nations was alike ; and it must be confessed
that the influence of the kings of England became very potent at the
court of Rome, for it appears the powers of the church were put forth,
in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, in behalf of the dom-
ination of Britain. It was in consequence of this, that the celebrated pro-
test of the Irish to the pope was drawn up by Donald O'Neill, and signed
by sev^eral leading chiefs, in 1315, which I shall present immediately.

In this reign, the great Earl of Desmond was attainted, at a
parliament held in Drogheda, for having suffered some of his family to
marry with the native Irish, and for such other anti-English practices
was condemned and beheaded. At the same place and time, it was
declared that any statute passed in England was binding on Ireland.

At this period, (1468,) so weakened was the English power in Ireland,
that a few of the chief lords formed the military Society of St. George,
with a view to their protection against the Irish ; and this force, (the entire
army of England in Ireland,) amounted to no more than two hundred
men i Yet so madly infatuated were the native princes in their hostihty
to each other, that they never even thought of asserting the independ-
ence of their country, and seemed to have forgotten that they had any
other enemies in it but each other.

About this time, an English heiress fell in love with and married the
Irish chief. Art M'Murrough. It had a wonderful effect in superin-
ducing marriages between the races, and in fact it began to be plain to
England that the descendants of the first invaders were now become, by
fosterage and marriage, and by imbibing the indomitable spirit of the
nation, more Irish than the Irish themselves. It was in this reign, at the
parliament held at Trim, that the famous enactment against Irish beards
was passed, viz., 1447, — "Any man who does not keep his upper lip
shaved may be treated as an Irish enemy." The clause was, it seems,
repealed in the second year of Charles the First. It was to this act
O'Connell so humorously alluded when he charged Sibihorpe, who is
noted for his abuse of the Irish, with being himself a mere Irishman. Sib-
thorpe could not master his passion, when the member for Ireland codlly
took up the statute-book, and pointed his attention to this enactment,
which, on being read by the clerk, convulsed the house with laughter.

CHARGE OF IGNORANCE AGAINST THE IRISH REFUTED. 583

In 1483, the Irish revenue of the English invaders was reduced to
so low an ebb, that a force of eighty archers, and forty horsemen
called spears, constituted the entire military establishment of the Eng-
lish in Ireland ; and, lest the sum of six hundred pounds, annually
required for the maintenance of this small troop, might prove oppressive
to the colonists, it was provided, should the Pale not be able to pay it,
the sum was to be sent thither from England. In fact, the English
paid tribute to the surrounding Irish chiefs as vassals to conquerors.
Cox gives a list of these payments, which he calls scandalous, and of
the districts which contributed their portions. The barony of Lecale
paid O'Neill, of Clanneboy, twenty pounds a year; the county of
Uriel, forty pounds to O'Neill ; the county of Meath, sixty pounds to
O'Connor; the county of Kildare, twenty pounds to O'Connor; the
exchequer paid eighty marks a year to M'Murrough ; the counties of
Kilkenny and Tipperary, forty pounds to O'Carroll ; the county of
Limerick, forty pounds to O'Brien ; and, lastly, the county of Cork paid
forty pounds to M'Carty, of Muskeny.

It is perfectly well known to those who have looked into the general
run of English writers upon Ireland, that there is a pervading effort
eternally manifested by them, to make the Irish of the three centuries
before the reformation, and, indeed, for all time previously, appear
illiterate, lawless, semi-barbarous, &c. We can readily believe they
were " lawless" seeing with what inextinguishable resolution every
succeeding generation of Irishmen resisted the sway of England ; and
barbarous, from the frequent lessons taught them by their invaders, from
the massacre of Dublin, pending a treaty, in 1170, by Cogan and
Strongbow, to the massacre on the Rath of the Curragh of Kildare,
1798, under General Duff, — the number, perfidy, treachery, and
atrocity of which are unparalleled in the whole history of mankind, —
making humanity shudder for its name.

Their literary reputation, during the three or four centuries preceding
the reformation, has been assailed ; and — grieved I am to write it —
Moore, their own Moore, is amongst the assailants ! But, even with the
lid of Moore, the calumniators of Ireland shall not have a victory.

We can readily imagine that men, whose houses had been eternally
n danger of being fired, whose property and ease were continually
'nvaded, whose lives were in perpetual danger from a nation of relent-
less and pillaging neighbors during several centuries, could have but
trifling time for study. Yet, looking at them under all these disadvan-
tageous circumstances, we cannot but feel surprised at their hterary

584 CHARGE OF IGNORANCE AGAINST THE IRISH REFUTED.

acquirements, which, of course, must be considered relatively to the
state of learning in other countries about the same ages.

That Ireland was the teacher of Europe for five hundred years after
the fall of Rome, there are plenty of evidences placed on record in
the previous pages of this book. On the irruption of the Danes in the
ninth and tenth centuries, the studies of Europe, including Ireland her-
self, were disturbed, the libraries of Europe were destroyed, and the
minds- of the learned distracted. The wars of the crusades, in the
eleventh and twelfth centuries, called off the flower of Europe from
the pursuit of knowledge to that of military glory. And the invasions
of Ireland, by England, and of France by the same power, together
with the long and bloody civil wars between the houses of York
and Lancaster, brought England, France, and Ireland, into a retrograde
movement as respects the acquisition of knowledge. Scotland and
Wales were no better. And those five nations were, generation after
generation, gradually casting away the knowledge bequeathed by their
forefathers.

There were many of the chief officers of cities in England and
France who could not write even their own names. Seals were, there
fore, cut, to affix the city or corporate authority to public documents.

When Charles the Fifth of France, about 1350, founded the Royal
Library of Paris, he placed in it his entire stock of books, which num-
bered only one hundred and twenty volumes. During the reign of
Elizabeth, literature was at a low ebb in England. Very few females
could either read or write. Even the two daughters of the great
litterateur of the age, William Shakspeare, could not write, — ^ so says
Sir Richard Phillips, their own countryman.

But, to shorten this controversy, we will place before the public two
state letters of the fourteenth age, written both by princes, the first of
Ireland, the second of England, and they will speak for themselves as
to the literary powers and cultivation of their respective writers. The
first, from Donald O'Neill, is a compact history of Ireland, to his own
times, written, with equal brevity, beauty, and power, to his holiness
John the Twenty-second, pope of Rome, which letter will be found in
the Scotic chronicle of John of Fordun, vol. iii. p. 908, et seq.

" To our most holy father, John, by the grace of God, sovereign
pontiff, we, his faithful children in Christ Jesus, Donald O'Neill, king
of Ulster, and lawful heir to the throne of Ireland, the nobles and
great men, with all the people of this kingdom, recommend and humbly-
cast ourselves at his feet, &,c.

DONALD o'nEILl's LETTER TO THE POPE. 5?^

" The calumnies and false representations which have been heaped
upon us by the English are too well known throughout the world not
to have reached the ears of your holiness. We are persuaded, most
holy father, that your intentions are most pure and upright ; but, fi'om
not knowing the Irish except through the misrepresentation of their
enemies, your holiness might be induced to look upon as truths those
falsehoods which have been circulated, and to form an opinion contrary
to what we merit, which would be to us a great misfortune. It is,
therefore, to save our country against such imputations, that we have
come to the resolution of giving to your holiness, in this letter, a faithful
description, and a true and precise idea, of the real state at present of
our monarchy, if this term can be still applied to the sad remains of a
kingdom which has groaned so long beneath the tyranny of the kings
of England, and that of their ministers and barons, — some of whom,
though born in our island, continue to exercise over us the same extor-
tions, rapine, and cruelties, as their ancestors before them have com-
mitted. We shall advance nothing but the truth, and we humbly hope
that, attentive to its voice, your holiness will not delay to express your
disapprobation against the authors of those crimes and outrages which
shall be revealed. The country in which we live was uninhabited until
the three sons of a Spanish prince, named Milesius, — according to others,
Micelius, — landed in it with a fleet of thirty ships. They came here from
Cantabria, a city on the Ebro, from which river they called the country
to which Providence guided them, Ibernia, where they founded a
monarchy that embraced the entire of the island. Their descendants,
who never sullied the purity of their blood by a foreign alliance, have
furnished one hundred and thirty kings, who, during the space of two
thousand five hundred years and upwards, have successively filled the
throne of Ireland till the time of King Legarius, from whom he, who
has the honor of affirming these facts, is descended in a direct line. It
was under the reign of this prince, in the year 435, that our patron and
chief apostle, St. Patrick, was sent to us by Pope Celestinus, one of
your predecessors ; and since the conversion of the kingdom through
the preaching of that great saint, we have had, till 1170, an uninter-
rupted succession of sixty-one kings, descended from the purest blood of
Milesius, who, well instructed in the duties of their religion, and faithful
to their God, have proved themselves fathers of their people, and have
shown by their conduct that, although they depended, in a spiritual
light, upon the holy apostolical see of Rome, they never acknowledged
any temporal master upon earth. It is to those Milesian princes, and
74

586 DONALD o'nEILl's LETTER TO THE POPE.

not to the English or any other foreigners, that the church of Ireland is
indebted for those lands, possessions, and high privileges, with which the
pious liberality of our monarchs enriched it, and of which it has been
almost stripped, through the sacrilegious cupidity of the English.

" During the course of so many centuries, our sovereigns, jealous of
their independence, preserved it unimpaired. Attacked more than once
by foreign powers, they were never wanting in either courage or strength
to repel the invaders, and secure their inheritance from insult. But that
which they effected against force, they failed to accomplish in opposition
to the will of the sovereign pontiff. His holiness Pope Adrian, to whose
other great qualities we bear testimony, was by birth an Englishman,
but still more in heart and disposition. The national prejudices he had
early imbibed, blinded him to such a degree, that, on a most false and
unjust statement, he determined to transfer the sovereignty of our coun-
try to Henry, king of England, under whom, and, perhaps, by whom,
St. Thomas of Canterbury had been murdered for his zeal in defending
the interests of the church. Instead of punishing this prince as his
crime merited, and depriving him of his own territories, the complaisant
pontiff has torn ours from us to gratify his countryman, Henry the
Second ; and, without pretext or offence on our part, or any apparent
motive on his own, has stripped us, by the most flagrant injustice, of the
rights of our crown, and left us a prey to men, or rather to monsters,
who are unparalleled in cruelty. Mo7-e cunning than foxes, and more
ravenous than wolves, they surprise and devour us ; and if sometimes
we escape their fury, it is only to drag on, in the most disgraceful
slavery, the wretched remains of a life more intolerable to us than death
itself. When, in virtue of the donation which has been mentioned, the
English appeared for the first time in this country, they exhibited every
mark of zeal and piety ; and, excelling as they did in every species of
hypocrisy, they neglected nothing to supplant and undermine us imper-
ceptibly.

" Emboldened from their first successes, they soon removed the mask ;
and, without any right but that of power, they obliged us, by open force,
to give up to them our houses and our lands, and to seek shelter, like
wild beasts, upon the mountains, in woods, marshes, and caves. Even
there, we have not been secure against their fury ; they even envy us
those dreary and terrible abodes ; they are incessant and unremitting in
their pursuits after us, endeavoring to chase us from among them ; they
lay claim to every place in which they can discover us, with unwar-
ranted audacity and injustice ; they allege that the whole kingdom

DONALD o'nEILl's LETTER TO THE POPE. 587

belongs to them of right, ancf that an Irishman has no longer a right to
remain in his own country. From these causes arise the implacable
hatred and dreadful animosity of the English and the Irish towards
each other ; that continued hostility, those bloody retaliations and innu-
merable massacres, in which, from the invasion of the English to the
present time, more than fifty thousand lives have been lost on both sides,
besides those who have fallen victims to hunger, to despair, and the
rigors of captivity. Hence, also, spring all the pillaging, robbery,
treachery, treason, and other disorders, which it is impossible for us to
allay in the state of anarchy under which at present we live — an anarchy
fatal not only to the state, but likewise to the church of Ireland, whose
members are now, more than ever, exposed to the danger of losing the
blessings of eternity, after being first deprived of those of this world.
Behold, most holy father, a brief description of all that has reference
to our origin, and the miserable condition to which your predecessor has
brought us. We shall now inform your holiness of the manner in
which we have been treated by the kings of England. The permission
of entering this kingdom was granted by the holy see to Henry the
Second and his successors, only on certain conditions, which were
clearly expressed in the bull which was given them. According to the
tenor of it, Henry engaged. to increase the church revenues in Ireland;
to maintain it in all its rights and privileges ; to labor, by enacting good
laws, in reforming the morals of the people, eradicating vice, and en-
couraging virtue ; and, finally, to pay to the successors of St. Peter an
annual tribute of one penny for each house. Such were the conditions
of the bull. But the kings of England and their perfidious ministers, so
far from observing them, have uniformly contrived to violate them in
every way, and to act in direct opposition to them. First, as to the
church lands, — instead of extending their boundaries, they have con-
tracted, curtailed, and invaded them so generally and to such a degree,
that some of our cathedrals have been deprived, by open force, of more
than one half of their revenues. The persons of the clergy have been
as little respected as their property. On every side, we behold bishops
and prelates summoned, arrested, and imprisoned by the commissioners
of the king of England ; and so great is the oppression exercised over
them, that they dare not give information of it to your holiness. How-
ever, as they are so dastardly as to conceal their misfortunes and those
of the church, they do not merit that we should speak in their behalf.

" We once had our laws and institutions ; the Irish were remarkable
for their candor and simplicity ; but the English have undertaken to

583 DONALD o'nEILl's LETTER TO THE POPE.

reform us, and have been unfortunately but too successful. Instead of
being, like our ancestors, simple and candid, we have become, through
our intercourse with the English, and the contagion of their example,
artful and designing as themselves. Our laws were written, and formed
a body of right, according to which our country tvas governed. How-
ever, with the exception of one alone, which they could not wrest from
us, they have deprived us of those salutary laws, and have given us
instead a code of their own making. Great God ! such laws ! If in-
humanity and injustice were leagued together, none could have been
devised more deadly and fatal to the Irish. The following will give
your holiness some idea of their new code. They are the fundamental
rules of English jurisdiction established in this kingdom : —

" 1. Every man, who is not Irish, may, for any kind of crime,
go to law with any Irishman, whilst neither layman nor ecclesiastic,
who is Irish, (prelates excepted,) can, under any cause or provocation,
resort to any legal measures against his English opponent.

" 2. If an Englishman kill an Irishman perfidiously and falsely, as
frequently occurs, of whatsoever rank or condition the Irishman may be,
noble or plebeian, innocent or guilty, clergyman or layman, secular or
regular, were he even a bishop, the crime is not punishable before an
English tribunal ; but, on the contrary, the more the sufferer has been
distinguished among his countrymen, either for his virtue or his rank,
the more the assassin is extolled and rewarded by the English, and that
not only by the vulgar, but by the monks, bishops, and, what is more
incredible, by the very magistrates, whose duty it is to punish and
repress crime.

" 3. If any Irishwoman whosoever, whether noble or plebeian, marry
an Englishman, on the death of her husband she becomes deprived,
from her being Irish, of a third of the property and possessions which
he owned.

"4. If an Irishman fall beneath the blows of an Englishman, the
latter can prevent the vanquished from making any testamentary dep-
osition, and may likewise take possession of all his wealth. What
can be more unjustifiable than a law which deprives the church of its
rights, and reduces men, who had been free from time immemorial, to
the rank of slaves?

" 5. The same tribunal, with the cooperation and connivance of some
English bishops, at which the Archbishop of Armagh presided, a man
who was but little esteemed for his conduct, and still less for his learn-
ing, made the following regulations at Kilkenny, which are not less

DONALD o'nEILl's LETTER TO THE POPE. 589

absurd in their import than in their form. The court, say they, after
deliberating together, prohibits all religious communities, in that part of
Ireland of which the English are in peaceful possession, to admit any
into them but a native of England, under a penalty of being treated by
the king of England as having contemned his orders, and by the
founders and administrators of the said communities as disobedient and
refractory to the present regulation. This regulation was little needed ;
before, as well as since its enactment, the English Dominicans, Fran-
ciscans, Benedictines, regular canons, and all the other communities of
their countrymen, observed the spirit of it but too faithfully. In the
choice of their inmates, they have evinced a partiality the more shame-
ful, as the houses for Benedictines and canons, where the Irish are now
denied admittance, were intended by their founders to be asylums open
to people of every nation indiscriminately. Vice was to be eradicated
from amongst us, and the seeds of virtue sown. Our reformers have
acted diametrically the opposite character ; they have deprived us of
our virtues, and have implanted their vices amongst us, 8ic. &,c. &.c.

"Donald O'Neill."

This letter bears date 1315.

The sovereign pontiff, moved by the remonstrances of O'Neill, ad-
dressed a letter, quoted by Petrus Lombardus, p. 260, to Edward
the Third, king of England, exhorting that prince to check the disor-
ders and cruelty that were practised upon the Irish ; but it did not avail.

We shall now present the letter of the Duke of York, Earl of March,
and heir apparent to the crown of England, (in the reign of Henry the
Sixth,) who was at the time lord lieutenant of Ireland, 1455.

The following copy is taken from Campion's history, in the Maza-
rin library in Paris, where it can be verified.

" Right worshipful, and, with all my heart, entirely beloved brother : I
commend mee unto you as heartily as I can.

" Ande like it you to wit, that sith I wrote last unto the king, our
sovereigne lord his highnes, the Irish enemy, that is to say, M'Geoghe-
gan, and with him three or foure Irish captaines, associate with a great
fellowship of English rebells, notwithstanding that they were within the
king our soveraigne lord his power, of great malice, and against all
truth, have maligned against their legiance, and vengeably have brent a
great town of my inheritance, in Meth, called Ramore, and other
villages thereabouts, and murdered and burnt both men, women, and
children, without mercy, the which enemies be yet assembled in woods and

590 LETTER OF THE DUKE OF YORK.

forts, waytlng to doe the hurt and grievance to the king's subjects, that
they can thinke or imagine for which cause I write at this time to the
king's highnes, and beseech his good grace for to hasten my payment
for this land, according to his letters of warrant, now late directed unto
the treasurer of England to the intent I may wage men in sufficient
number, for to resist the malice of the same enemys, and punish them
in such wyse, that other, which would do the same, for lack of resist-
ance in time, may take example, for, doubtlesse, but if my payment be
had, in all haste, for to have men of war in defence and safeguard of
this lande, my power cannot stretch to keepe it in the king's obeysance,
and very necessity will compell ine to come into England, to live there
upon my poore livelode, for. I had lever be dead, than any inconvenience
should fall thereunto in my default, for it shall never be chronicled, nor
remain in scripture, by the grace of God, that Ireland was lost by my
negligence ; and, therefore, I beseech you, right worshipful brother, that
you will hold to your hands instantly, that my payment may be had at
this time, in eschuing all inconveniences, for I have example in other
places, more pity it is to dread shame, and for to acquife my truth unto
the king's hi_ghnes, as my dutie is, and this I pray and exhort you, good
brother, to shew unto his good grace, and that you will be so good, that
this language may be enacted at this present parliament for my excuse
in time to come, and that you will be good to my servant Roger Roe,
the bearer hereof, &c.

" Written at Divelin, the 15th Juin.

" Your faithful true brother,

" Richard York."

I, for one, am content to allow an enlightened community to pro-
nounce judgment on the literary merits of these authentic letters, the
production of equals in English and Irish society.

After the decisive battle of Bosworth Field, in which the celebrated
Richard the Third was slain, the crown, having been found in the
field, was carried to the victorious Earl of Richmond, who was crowned
on the battle-ground as Henry the Seventh. This successful prince,
having married the heiress of the house of York, united on the throne
the heads of the contending parties.

On the fall of Richard, the Plantagenet line became extinct. The
Plantagenetfamily had enjoyed the crown of England for three hundred
years. It now passed into the family of Tudor. In the previous
fifty years, — from 1400 to 1450, — the Irish made wonderful ad-

STATE OF IRELAND. 591

vances towards the extinction of the English interest in Ireland.
Leland, a writer on the English side, thus describes the relative
bearings of the English and Irish power, in the beginning of the
fifteenth century: " Tiie Irish, in despite of transient, occasional, and
inadequate attempts to subdue them, gradually advanced in power, and
enlarged their borders. Although the English lords, by the statutes of
their little parliament, prohibited the English settlers from trading with
the native Irish, yet their most flourishing settlements and richest towns
were so totally environed by the old natives, that the English could
trade with none other, and were reduced by the legal restraints of their
parliament to the danger of being utterly impoverished. The power of
the ancient natives was every day extending and increasing: ichat
could not he effected by military operations, was, on various occasions,
[continues this writer, on the side of England,] attempted by treaties
and stipulations ; and here the superior power of the enemy [meaning
the Irish] dictated the terms.'''' The English settlers on the border were
driven to defend themselves from the incursions of the neighboring Irish,
by bribes and pensions. " It doth not appear certain," continues this
author, " at what precise time this dishonorable concession was first
made; but, from the public records, the commencement of it was not much
later than the present period," (viz., during the reign of Henry the
Fifth of England, anno 1400.) "An annual stipend, afterwards well
known by the name of hlacTi rent, was paid to the powerful Irish chief-
tains by the English settlers, to purchase their protection, whose pride
was thus gratified by the recognition of their ancient sovereignty.
The English subjects were still, by this time, reduced to a mortifying
situation. The old native Irish considered the whole race as aliens
and intruders — those, at least, who would not consent to adopt their
language and manners." And by the 9th of Henry the Sixth,
1430, we find the limits of the English Pale set forth in the fol-
lowing words. It goes on, after a long preamble, to record, " that the
enemies and rebels (the Irish) had conquered and put under their
obeysance and tribute in the parts of Munster, and well nigh all the
counties of Limerick, Tipperary, Kilkenny, and Wexford ; and in the
nether parts, well nigh all the counties of Limerick, Tipperary, Kil-
kenny, and Wexford ; and well nigh all the counties of Carlow, Kildare,
Meath, and Uriel ; so that there is left unconquered and out of tribute
little more than the county of Dublin."

Such is the testimony of that memorable act of parliament to the
great fact, that Ireland, up to this period, was unconquered by
Ensrland.

592 DUTIES PERFORMED BY THE CLERGY.

It is to US of the present day astonishing — incomprehensible —
that the Irish chieftains of that period did not combine together, and
free themselves and their country totally from British power. They
were, it seems, contented, in the distant quarters of the island, to rule
their petty septs, to maintain their state and consequence against
their neighbors, and to enjoy the honor and advantage of trifling victo-
ries. Some of them, indeed, united in the most cordial affection with
the old English families, who had joined them in marriage and family
interests. Had the Irish people been then led by a Brien Boroimhe,
or an O'Ruark, they would have instantly destroyed the English power
in Ireland.

The reign of Henry the Seventh passed away without disturbing
materially this general state of things. The Anglo-Irish having joined,
either on the one side or the other, in the English civil wars, they were
drawn off in great numbers, and appeared in arms against each other in
England. From this also grew two parties among the native Irish, —
called the York and Lancaster party, — and their animosities continued
to be kept up between the great houses of Butler and Geraldine for
many generations. Crom-a-boo ! was the senseless war-cry of the Ger-
aldines, or the Kildare family ; and Butler-a-hoo ! that of the Butler or
Ormond family; — and so of others. At length the king sent Sir Ed-
ward Poyning, with a thousand men, to settle the affairs, and to curb
the aristocracy, of the Pale. He introduced the famous act, in Drogheda,
called Poyning' s Laiv, which forbade the holding any parliament in Ire-
land without the king of England's authority, or the proposing any law
without its receiving his previous assent and that of his privy council.
This was the law which Grattan succeeded in repealing in 1782. In
the removal of several penal clauses against the Irish, passed at Kilken-
ny, that against speaking the Irish language was not renewed, for nearly
all the English in Ireland had for a long time spoken in that tongue,
and had dropped the use of their own ; a thing, as remarked by Spenser,
unprecedented in the case of a conquered country.

The higher clergy, in those days, exercised much power in the
temporal affairs of society, both in England and Ireland. The office
of lord chancellor had been filled by a dignitary of the church since the
time of King Alfred, which was discontinued on the fall of Cardinal Wol-
sey, whose place was supplied by Sir Thomas More. Medicine was
practised by the clergy, particularly the monks ; and as they superin-
tended all the public schools and universities, administered to all who
were needy, wrote all the books then in use in schools and libraries,

DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. THE CLERGY. 593

besides being lords of one fifth of England, and nearly of a like pro-
portion of Ireland, in right of their establishments, they possessed
unbounded influence. They were, however, good, indulgent landlords,
and the rents paid to them were all spent amongst the people.

This year [1492] was remarkable for the voyage of Christopher
Columbus, and his discovery of the new world, which Seneca seems to
have predicted in his Medea : " Ages will arise in after years, when the
ocean will loose her chains, and the great globe will open ; when the
sea will develop new orbs, and that Thule will not be the extreme
region of the earth." Henry the Seventh, to whom Columbus first
applied, neglected, it appears, both his own interest and glory, by refu-
sing the offer which this great man made to him, in his projected voyage,
and which Ferdinand of Castile contrived to turn to his own advan-
tage. It was a discovery which gave a new impetus to the energies of
the old world, and its effects are yet only in an infant state.
75

594

MUSIC ANB POETRY.

THE VALLEY LAY SMILING BEFORE ME,

BY MOORE.

-F

1. The val - ley lay smi - ling be - fore me, Where

-r

:±

i — ^

~i f I — r

late - ly I left her be - hind ; Yet I trembled, and

b-\ 1-

td:

^ *

something hung o'er me, That saddened the joy of my

[zbzzj, j^. ^

1 L

^3EF*=-

^sr

"I —

fzizz

I looked for the lamp, which she

"I — r

PE:

told me Should shine when her pil - grim re -

t-^

:rz=p

T f — r

- turned ; But, though darkness be - gan to en

'-^^-

--^A

--^^

- fold me, No lamp from the bat - tle-ments burned.

I flew to her chamber — 'twas lonely

As if the loved tenant lay dead ;
Ah ! would it were death, and death only —

But, no ! the false young one had fled !

MUSIC AND POETRY. 595

And there hung the liite that could soften

My very worst pains into bliss ;
While the hand that had waked it so often

Now throbbed to my proud rival's kiss.

There was a time, falsest of women,

When BrefFni's good sword would have sought
That man through a million of foemen,

Who dared but to doubt thee in thought!
While now — O degenerate daughter

Of Erin ! how fallen is thy fame !
And, through ages of bondage and slaughter,

Thy country shall weep for thy shame.

Already the curse is upon her.

And strangers her valleys profane;
They come to divide, to dishonor;

And tyrants they long will remain.
But, onward ! the green banner bearing !

Go ! flesh every brand to the hilt !
On our side is Virtue and Erin !
♦ On theirs is the Saxon and Guilt!

CALLIEN DHAS CRUITHAN A BO.*

(the pretty girl milking her cow.)

To be sung to the foregoing air^

One morning, when Sol was adorning
The dew-painted, fragrant rose,

* Tradition informs us that this very ancient and very beautiful song grew out
of the following historical incidents. Keating, (vol. i. page 125,) in conjunction
with other authors, fully authenticates the following relation : We have undoubted
authority to believe that Eithne Ollmhdd, daughter of O'Dowling, the soa of

MUSIC AND POETRY.

The larks sang their tunes melodious,
And flowers sweet odors disclosed ;

It was near to the foot of a mountain,
Where cataracts rapidly flow,

1 saw that fair artist of nature,

Called Callien dhas Cruithan a bo.

The nightingale vied with the siren ;

The linnet she sang in each spray;
The dove, with the sweetest allurement,

And lambs round the sweet one did play ;
While Cupid sat there in his chariot,

Well armed with quiver and bow,
To wound all the hearts that came near to

This Callien dhas Cruithan a bo I

Eanaheadh, was mother to Carbre Liffenhair, the son of Connae, the son of Art,
the son of Cou of the Hundred Fights. This lady was fostered and educated by
Buicoidh Boughach, a wealthy herdsman that lived in Leinster. Cormac, in one
of his hunting excursions, became suddenly captivated with the lovely Eithne, a
virgin of rare beauty, whom he by chance caught a glimpse of in passing through
the lands of her foster-father, while she was employed milking a cow in company
with her foster-sister and some domestics. The king inquired into the lineage of
the lady, declared his passion, and ultimately made her his wife. This historical
tradition is given to me by a learned and talented Irishman, as the origin of this
beautiful air, which was composed, on the king's marriage, by his favorite bard.
The two stanzas above given are, possibly, not the original words which were
wedded to this air. I have heard a better version of this old song; and when 1
can possess myself of the words, it is likely I shall substitute them

THE TIME I'VE LOST IN WOOING.

BY MOORE.

9 # ^~ I "

1. The time I've lost in woo - ing, In

MUSIC AND POETRY.

597

>==?=^-

-^—1-9 ~3 ~3

watching and pur - su - ing The light that hes In

woman's eyes, Has been my heart's un - do - ing.

T-^~

■^:

l^ZZ

Though wis - dom oft has sought me, I scorned the

'k'b~^ '

1
1

zzi>-;ns

— ^

^ _,^ -.^k-T .-

— i—

w— J'

—

iiiL^p^

j^ ■

— •

lore she brought me; My on - ly books Were woman's

i^ZZZr

looks, And fol - ly 's all they've taught me.

On her smile, when beauty granted,
I hung with gaze enchanted.

Like him, the sprite

Whom maids by night
Oft meet in glen that's haunted.
Like him, too, beauty won me;
But while her eyes were on me.

If once their ray

Was turned away,
O ! winds could not outrun me !

5^8

MUSIC AND POETRY.

REMEMBER THEE! YES.

BY MOORE.

=f!^

^ — -fp ^ !

' — P S-

id:

)^¥=i-

5=zj

1. Re - mem - ber thee! yes, while there's life in this

^=^— S--^-'

s— ^

azizzim

heart,

It shall nev er for - get thee,

all

-9

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;sii:

lorn as thou art ; More dear in thy sor - row, thy

^9^ I I I I

1^-=^^-^=*

gloom, and thy showers, Than the rest of the

l^-r-—^

V- — ^-

world

in their

-^'-9-9

sun - ni - est hours. Wert thou

« 9 — 9 r~f'"i~'9^f I

I [^ n~ !

all that 1 wish thee, great, glo-rious, and free, First

fzz

~9'

^~p g?~ig — '^ — ^ — ii»—r-\-'

flower of the earth, and first gem

g^ggg^PP

might

thee with proud - er.

MUSIC AND POETRY.

599

n^ N — r* —

hap

pi - er

brow ;

t=i —

But, O! could I

love thee more deep - ly than now?

No ; thy chains as they rankle, thy blood as it runs,
But make thee more painfully dear to thy sons, —
Whose hearts, like the young of the desert-bird's nest.
Drink- love in each life-drop that flows from thy breast!
Wert thou all that I wish thee, &;c.

KITTY OF COLERAINE,

LECTURE XV.

FROM A D. 1509 TO 1560.

Henry the Eighth. — Cardinal Wolsey. — Queen Catharine. — Anne Boleyn. —
Henry breaks with the Pope. ^ Bishop Cranmer. — Sir Thomas More. — Bishop
Fisher. — The subservient Parliament. — The Monasteries. — Their public Utility.

— Opinion of the Quarterly Review. — King Henry's Design on the Monasteries

— Thomas Cromwell. — His Commissions. — Cobbett's Opinion of them. — Seizure
of three hundred and seventy-six Monasteries. — Distributed among the Pliant. —
Further Confiscations. — Executions. — Invasion of the Shrines of the Dead. —
Chaos in Laws, Morals, and Religion. — Catholics and Protestants burnt on the
same Pile. — Monasteries legalized again in England. — Irelapd under Henry. —
The Kildare Family. — Beginning of the Reformation in Ireland. — Dissents and
Opposition of the Clergy. — Persecution commenced. — Parliament of the Pale. —
Confiscations of Irish Monasteries. — Bribery of the Irish Gentry. — King Henry's
fifth Wife, Catharine Howard. — Execution of Cromwell. — Execution of the
Queen. — Henry marries a sixth Wife. — His Death. — Reading of the Bible first
suppressed by him. — Accession of Edward the Sixth. — Further Changes in Re-
ligion.— Insurrection in England. — Execution of Somerset. — Death of King
Edward. — Intrigues of Northumberland. — Queen Mary proclaimed. — Rebellion.
Grand Entry of Mary into London. — Restoration of the Laws, and of the Catholic
Religion. — Pliancy of Parliament. — Marriage of the Queen to Philip of Spain. —
The Parliament restore the Catholic Religion. — Why call Mary "Bloody".? —
Ireland a Refuge for the Persecuted. — Massacre of Mullaghmast.

Anno 1509. We are now about to enter on the eventful era of the
reformation. This event is associated, in our minds, with the reign of
King Henry the Eighth of England. As Ireland may date the beginning
of her most grievous sufferings and sorrows from King Henry's time,
every one will excuse me for going a little into the history of a cause
which produced throughout Europe, as well as Ireland, such important
changes.

It is not my vocation, nor have I capacity or acquirements, to enter
the arena of theological controversy. I do not intend to treat this ques-
tion in a sectarian spirit. Religion is a matter that lies between each
man and his Creator. If, as I shall, for nearly the remainder of this
work, be obliged to allude to the unfortunate differences in religion
which this great change generated in Britain and Ireland, I hope to do

HENRY THE EIGHTH. I^il

a most unpleasant duly without violence to the feelings of any. I shall
not, if I can discover it, speak in a sectarian tone. In recounting the
changes in the religious economy of the English government, I shall
refer to them only in as far as they operated on the political and social
economy of Ireland.

At tlie very threshold of this inquiry, I ask the kind forbearance and
charitable interpretation of my readers, of every shade of opinion, while
I unfold to them the incredible sufferings which Ireland has endured, in
the name of religion, from the time of Henry the Eighth to the present
hour.

King Henry the Eighth, of England, was the second son of Henry the
Seventh, with whose reign I concluded my previous lecture. He was
educated for the church ; but Arthur, his eldest brother, dying at the age
of fourteen, Henry became thereby the heir of the British crown ;
which, on the death of his father, [1509,] he assumed, while yet only
eighteen years of age. He was handsome, accomplished, proud, and
well educated. Immediately after coming to the throne, he married
Catharine, the daughter of Philip, king of Spain. She was about three
or four years older than himself. This lady had been nominally married,
according to the custom of those times, to the king's brother, who, as I
have just mentioned, died at the age of fourteen, and the marriage was
therefore never consummated. But the lady's father took care to have
a dispensation, or a nullijication of that nominal marriage effected, by the
pope, before the second marriage, with Henry the Eighth, was solem-
nized. The marriage with Henry therefore took place, with the full
approbation of all the church authorities of England, Spain, and Rome.

King Henry had several children by his virtuous queen, one only of
whom lived, namely, the princess Mary, afterwards queen of England.
They lived happily and lovingly together for fourteen years, the queen
proving herself, through all that time, a most virtuous and afTectionate
wife. The religion of England, Ireland, and all Europe, was then one
and the same. It was Catholic, and in communion with the see of
Rome.

The movement against the pope and the Catholic religion, which was
begun in Europe by Luther, Zuingh, and Calvin, gave a new occu-
pation to men's thoughts throughout the Christian worid. In truth, this
religious revolution, which had its beginning in the bosom of an offended
monk, now mixed or attracted all elements into its vortex, in several of
the continental kingdoms, opposition to the pope, opposition to princes,
desire of the riches contained in the monasteries, impatience of ecclesi-
.76

602 CARDINAL WOLSEY.

astical discipline, and doubtless the remembrance and existence of many
petty acts of overstrained authority committed by prelates of the church,
whose pride neither the monitions of the Christian tenets, the interests
of religion, nor the fears of punishment, could restrain.

We find that, in many parts of Europe, mobs were excited to madness
against the old church dignitaries. Churches and monasteries were
broken up, and the rich contents distributed amongst the ringleaders.
In the midst of this half-ecclesiastical, half-civil commotion, princes lost
their diadems and principalities, which were seized upon by leaders who
presented a new code of religion in one hand, and a new code of civil
laws in the other.

Henry the Eighth distinguished himself amongst the theologians of
Europe by the composition and publication of a book against these
reformers. It was entitled the " Assertion of the Seven Sacraments,"
which he dedicated to Pope Leo the Tenth ; and, in return, received
from that distinguished father of the church the title defender of the
faith, which was conferred on him in a special bull, signed by twenty-
seven cardinals and bishops.

Such was Henry the Eighth at the commencement of the reformation
in Germany. There is another distinguished person, to whom the
reader must be introduced at this stage of the great drama. This is the
celebrated Cardinal Wolsey. I know not if the whole history of the
church offers to our view so proud a prelate. Originally of very hum-
ble parentage, he was educated for the church, and raised into impor-
tance by a train of fortunate circumstances. Having been selected by
Henry the Seventh to go upon some mission of negotiation to the court
of the Emperor Maximilian, he performed it so well and so quickly,
that he won the approbation of the monarch, and was promoted to the
deanery of Lincoln ; and he subsequently made him his almoner, which
office he held on the accession of Henry the Eighth, whose favor he
secured so well that he was appointed a member of his council, and
successively bishop of Tournay, Lincoln, archbishop of York, and lastly,
cardinal and legate, chancellor of England, and bishop of Winchester.
He was abbot of the convent of St. Alban's, and possessed likewise the
revenues of the episcopal sees of Bath, Worcester, and Hereford, with
several priories and other benefices. So great was the splendor to which
he attained, that he kept an almost incredible number of officers and
servants in his household ; and when sent by the king as an ambassador
to the court of France, he brought with him, in his train, twelve hundred
horses, eighty chariots, sixty mules, and other parts of his retinue in

QUEEN CATHARINE. 603

proportion. Splendor cannot be supported without wealth, and Wolsey
was insatiable in the pursuit of it. Man generally possesses many pas-
sions ; but one usually preponderates, in which the others seem to centre.
The cardinal's ruling passion was ambition. He aspired to nothing less
than the papal chair, for which object he sought to obtain the friendship
and influence of Charles the Fifth. This emperor, who looked upon him
as necessary to aid him in carrying his plans into effect, began to display
much regard towards him by a fre(|uent correspondence, and in the
letters which he wrote, he signed himself, " Charles, your son and re-
lation.^^

Such, condensed from the Abbe M'Geoghegan, is a glimpse at this cel-
ebrated man. It is not a little remarkable that the proud, unprincipled
cardinal — for unprincipled he was — first set the example, in England, of
suppressing monasteries. Wishing to do some signal thing, that would
carry his name to remote posterity, he prevailed on the king to suppress
forty monasteries, the revenues of which he assumed for the purpose of
establishing and supporting two grand colleges, the one at Oxford, the
other at Ipswich — an example which King Henry soon after followed,
upon a more extended scale, though with somewhat less worthy motives
actuating him.

When Henry had been about fourteen years married, he. began to
give vent to certain doubts, which troubled his conscience, as to the
religious regularity of his marriage with Queen Catharine. These he
communicated to Cardinal Wolsey, who, according to the authority of
the Abbe M'Geoghegan, rather encouraged than subdued. Besides
all this there was another impulse strongly working in favor of those
doubts ; namely, a secret love for the beautiful Anne Boleyn, a maid
of honor to his queen. These doubts at last broke openly out, and the
king separated from the queen. An appeal was made by him to the
pope, complaining that his marriage was unlawful, and requesting a
trial, with a view to a divorce. The pope granted this trial, which was
commenced before English commissioners, the legate from the holy see
presiding. Queen Catharine refused to appear before this tribunal, inas-
much as it was composed of Englishmen, under the influence of the
king ; and she, being a Spaniard, demanded a trial before the pope and
cardinals. On this occasion the queen made a most eloquent appeal to
the feelings of all present, in which she set forth her virtue, fidelity, and
conjugal rights, and concluded by challenging her husband to say aught
against her character since their union. The king said, " that he had
no complaints to advance against her, that he was satisfied with her con

604 ^UEEN CATHARINE.

duct, and that her virtue could not be sufficiently admired. He de- ,
clared, likewise, that he would continue willingly to live with her if his
conscience would permit him." The entire assembly, we are told,
melted into tears. Jt broke up without doing any thing; but the royal
pair did not come together again.

Tiuic rolled on without bringing things to an issue. The divorce
question was fre(|uently debated without any thing being concluded on.
The king, therefore, sent for the two cardinals, in order that they might
induce the queen to leave the matter to his own decision. They imme-
diately repaired to her, and found her working with her female attend-
ants. When she heard Wolsey addressing her, and continuing to
speak, " I see clearly," said she, " that you have come here to debate
on matters which surpass my capacity." Then, showing a skein of silk
which iiiing upon her neck, " Behold," she continued, " what I am
capable of, and what is my sole occupation." Wolsey entreated her,
through kindness for the king, not to await the result of a lawsuit, the
issue, of which could not be favorable to her. " I do not know," replied
the queen, " who has advised the king to act as he is now doing. I
confess, caidiiial, that it is you whom 1 blame for it. Our parents, who
were wise princes, had our marriage previously investigated, and ob-
tained from the pope a dispensation for it, of which I hold the original.
The king and ! have lived for almost eighteen years together, during
which no censure has been cast upon us. Your pride, however, I can-
not approve of; your debaucheries, your tyranny, and insolence, I have
s[)oken of. Througli the ir»fluence of my nephew, the emperor^ you
have failed in being appointed pope, which is the source of all my mis-
fortunes ; since, in order to be revenged, you have not been content
with kindling a war throughout all Europe, but have been likewise the
secret spring and cause of all my misfortunes. Every thing that I
suffer, cardinal, from this disgrace, is known to God, who will be your
judge and mine." Wolsey wished to reply, but she would not hear
him. Campeggio she treated with politeness, but protested that she
never would acknowledge either one or the other as her judge, and
would continue in the line of conduct she had adopted.

Some two or three years were now spent in negotiation between the
courts of England and Rome. The question was discussed in the col-
leges of England, France, and Italy. Books were written pro and con,
and the crafty king sent ambassadors to Rome, to tamper witii the car-
dinals. He began, in the mean time, to manifest openly his partiality for
Anne Boleyn. Having consented to submit the marriage to the college

HENKT BREAKS WITH THE POPE. MORE. FISHER. 605

of cardinals, under an erroneous supposition that he had gained many of
iheni to his side, he was greatly mortified in finding that the entire
college, with one exception, gave their votes confirmatory of the mar-
riage. The pope acquiesced ; and, after vainly trying to persuade
Henry into an acquiescence, sent his ultimatum to the king, requesting
him to take back his wife, and put away Anne Bolcyn.

Henry had already, as it would appear, made up his mind to break
with the pope, should the decision be against him ; and it having been
promulgated adversely, he kept his intention no longer a secret. In the
mean time, having conceived a dislike for Cardinal Wolsey, he suddenly
dismissed that powerful prelate from his various offices, and actually
placed him under arrest. He advanced Sir Thomas More in his stead
to the office of lord chancellor, who was the first layman that ever held
that office in England. The celebrat(?d Thomas Cranmer, a theological
professor of Oxford, having written a book in favor of the divorce,
was proinoted to the archbishopric of Canterbury, in the place of
Wolsey.

The king now influenced his parliament to pass an act declaring the
power of the pope, in spiritual or temi)oral matters, at an end in his
dominions. By his promise of rich rewards to the members of this par-
liament, he moulded them into most pliable courtiers. Any bill he
wanted was carried through with rapidity. The archbishop, too, was
equally willing to aid the king in all his important changes. The queen
was soon divorced, in a court held by archbishop Cranmer. Anne
Boleyn was married as quickly. Queen Catiiarine, in tlie course of a
couple of years, died universally regretted. By Anne Boleyn he had a
daughter, who was afterwards Queen Elizabeth.

The king now passed an act, through his parliament, making himself
supreme head of the church, in all matters, throughout his dominions.
He had another act passed, rendering it treason to his person, and pun-
ishable with death, to deny his supremacy. Sir Thon)as More, Bishop
Fisher, and many other most pious men, refused to take this oath.
Their refusal to admit was deemed tantamount to a denial. For this
they were both sent to prison. After remaining there some months,
they were brought to the block and beheaded. Sir Thomas More was
greatly regretted. He met his fate with a tranquil mind. As the execu-
tioner was about to lift the fatal axe, this remarkable man coolly removed
his beard out of the way, observing that it had not offended his high-
ness, the king. Thus died, says Sir James Mackintosh, one of the best
men that was born in England for a thousand years. Bishop Fisher

606 SUBSERVIENT PARLIAMENT.

was also beheaded for the same offence. Several abbots, who refused
to admit the supremacy of the king, were hanged and quartered.

The king, having suspected the virtue of his new queen, had her
arrested, tried, and ordered for execution in a few days after.

Having borrowed large sums from his subjects, which he had no
means of paying, he had a bill brought through the parliament, to exempt
him from paying any of this money. There was no limit to his personal
expenses. On his accession to the throne, he found eighteen hundred
thousand pounds in the treasury, accumulated by the late king ; this
large sum he had long since squandered in dissipation. After Anne
Boleyn's death, he married the Lady Jane Seymour, by whom he had a
son, who was afterwards Edward the Sixth of England. The lady
died in childbirth, and the infant was extracted by the CBesarean
operation.

The next great political step of Henry was to have a bill carried
through the house of commons, giving to his proclamations the force of
an act of parliament. By this bold stroke he assumed, in his own per-
son, the powers of the state ; abolished Magna Charta, and reduced
every authority in the kingdom, civil and ecclesiastical, beneath his unre-
strained will. Persons suspected of treason, or those who refused to ac-
knowledge the king's supremacy, were condemned and executed by his
warrant. At first, the forms of a trial took place ; but these were quickly
laid aside, and the king's warrant was alone substituted for all other forms.

England was now reduced to a condition of the most abject slavery.
Hume describes it thus : *' The English, in that age, were so thoroughly
subdued, that, 4ike Eastern slaves, they were inclined to adnjire even
those acts of violence and tyranny which w^"e exercised on themselves,
and at their own expense."

Henry, having reduced the people to this slave-like dread, proceeded
next to seize on the rich monasteries. There were about seven hundred
of these throughout England, and an equal number throughout Ireland.
I have frequendy described their nature and character in these pages,
and especially at page 467, to which the reader is referred. These re-
ligious corporations were very wealthy. Their libraries were well
stored with books, most of which were ornamented with silver clasps,
hinges, and the like ; for the monks spent much of their time composing
and transcribing those books. Princes, lords, and other great ones of
the world, usually bequeathed, on their death-beds, to the monasteries,
some important gift, to be administered in acts of charity or education.
And although the monks were supported by the income of these estab-

THE MONASTERIES. 607

Ushments, yet the poor and the illiterate were also benefited materially.
Putting aside all question about a future state, the historian and the
philosopher must admit, that those institutions were of great utility to the
people of England and of Ireland, where, in the midst of so dense a
population, the hand of charity is ever required, either to minister to the
needy, the sick, or the illiterate.

On the score of science, they were admirable academies. There are
hardly any of the great inventions which we value at present, that were
not discovered by these misrepresented men. The earth's sphericity,
antipodes, and the general astronomical balance, were discovered, in the
eighth century, by an Irish monk, and its diurnal revolutions by an
Italian Jesuit, in the sixteenth. Gunpowder was first compounded by a
monk ; and the best treatise on gunnery was written by a Jesuit.
Architecture, painting, music, and mathematics, owe their preservation
to the monks. Society felt no want which those good men did not
associate to supply.

The Protestant Bishop Tanner, as quoted by William Cobbett, in his
History of the Reformation, describes the monasteries thus : " They
were schools of learning and education, for every convent had one per-
son or more appointed for this purpose ; and all the neighbors, that
desired it, might have their children taught grammar and church music,
&;c., without any expense to them. In the nunneries, young women
were taught to work, and read English, and sometimes Latin also ; so
that not only the lower rank of people, who could not pay for their
learning, were educated, but most of the noblemen's and gentlemen's
daughtei-s were educated in those places. Thirdly, all the monasteries
were, in effect, great hospitals ; and were, most of them, obliged to re-
lieve many poor people every day. They were likewise free houses of
entertainment for almost all travellers. They were likewise of consid-
erable advantage to the places where they had their sites, and estates,
by creating a great resort thither, by obtaining grants of fairs and
markets, freeing the people from the oppressions of the ambitious
chiefs and barons, and lasdy by letting their lands at easy rates.

" And, finally, the abbeys, and churches attached, were great orna-
ments to the country, and employed a great many workmen in building
and repairing, which contributed much to improve the taste for, and the
style of, our architecture."

The monasteries were constructed throughout Europe on those prin-
ciples of utility. There was no nation in which the standard of the
cross was planted, but the monastic institutions grew up around it

603 OPINION OF THE QUARTEBLY REVIEW AND OTHERS.

Mallet, in his History of the Siviss, speaking of those calumniated men,
says, " The monks softened, by their instructions, the ferocious manners
of the people, and opposed their credit to the tyranny of the nobility,
who knew no other occupation than war, and grievously oppressed their
neighbors. On this account the government of monks was preferred to
theirs — the people sought them for judges. It was a usual saying,
that it was better to be governed by the bishop's crosier than the
monarch's sceptre."

Drake, in his Literary Hours, says, " The monks of Cassins were
distinguished not only for their knowledge of sciences, but their attention
to polite learning, and an acquaintance with the classics. Their learned
abbot, Desiderius, collected the best Greek and Roman authors. The
fraternity not only composed learned treatises on music, logic, astron-
omy, architecture, Stc, but employed a portion of their time in tran-
scribing Tacitus, and other ancient authors."

In the English Quarterly Review, December, 1811, there is the
following testimony to the same purport : " The world has never been
so indebted to any other body of men as to the illustrious order of
Benedictine monks. A community of pious men, devoted to literature
and to the useful arts, as well as to religion, seems, in the days that are
past, like a green oasis arnid the desert : like stars upon a moonless
night, they shine upon us with a tranquil ray. If ever there was a man
who could truly be called venerable, it was he to whom the appellation
is constantly prefixed — the Venerable Bede — whose life was passed in
instructing his own generation, and preparing records for posterity. In
those days," continues the Review, " the church offered the only asylum
from the evils to which every country was exposed. Amidst continued
wars, the church enjoyed peace. It was regarded as a sacred realm
by men who, though they hated one another, believed and feared God
through the same form of religion. Abused as it was by the worldly-
minded and ambitious, and disgraced by the artifices of the designing
and tlie follies of the fanatic, it afforded a shelter to those who were
better than the world in their youth, or weary of it in their age. The
wise, as well as the timid and gentle, fled to this Goshen of God, which
enjoyed its own light and calm, amidst darkness and storms."

Such were the monasteries, which had grown up, like the oaks of the
forest, for a thousand years, increasing, as they grew, in strength and
majesty.

There were about twenty to five-and-twenty of these institutions in
each county in England and Ireland. To obtain the concurrence of

THOMAS CROMWELL. -—HIS COMMISSIONERS. 609

parliament, in iiis designs on this property, the king promised some of
these possessions to the members, as the reward for their subserviency.
But even this failed to make them sufficiently pliable to his will.

In order to begin the confiscations, the king put on the forms of law,
and appointed a commission to visit and inquire into the practices and
properties of all the monasteries of the kingdom. At the head of this
commission he placed Thomas Cromwell, who was son of a black-
smith, and who had been brought up as a messenger in the household
of Cardinal Wolsey. The commissioners sent forward their agents to
every monastic institution in the kingdom : the kingdom was divided
into districts for this purpose, and two deputies were appointed to visit
each district. Their object was to obtain grounds of accusation against
the monks and nuns.

These deputies are described by William Cobbett, [from whose able
work on the reformation I have condensed most of the foregoing re-
marks,] in the following words: "When we consider the object, and
what was the character of the man to whom the work was committed,
we may easily imagine what sort of men these deputies were. They
were, in fact, fit to be the subalterns of such a chief. They were some
of the very worst men in all England — men of notoriously infamous
characters ; men who had been convicted of heinous crimes, some of
whom had actually been branded for crime. These men wrote in their
* reports,' not what was, but what their merciless employers wanted
them to write.

" The monks and nuns, who had never dreamed of the possibility of
such proceedings ; who had never entertained the idea that Magna
Charta, and all the laws of the land, could be set aside in a moment ;
and whose recluse and peaceful lives rendered them wholly unfit to cope
with crafty, desperate villany, — fell before these ruffians as chickens fall
before the kite. The reports made by these villains met with no con-
tradiction. The accused parties had no means of making a defence.
There was no court for them to appear in. They dared not, even if
they had the means, offer a defence or make a complaint ; for they had
seen the horrible consequences — the burnings, the rippings up, of all
those of their brethren who had ventured to whisper their dissent from
any dogma or decree of the tyrant. The monks and nuns, and the
multitudes that depended on them for support, were to be at once
stripped of this great mass of property, without any other ground than
the reports of those men, sent, as the malignant Hume confesses, for
the express purpose of finding a pretence for the breaking up of the
77

610 SEIZURE OF THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-SIX MONASTERIES.

monasteries, and the king's taking to himself property that had never
belonged to hitn or his predecessors."

Such is Cobbett's opinion of this great confiscation. The youth of
the present day are taught, from Hume's History of England, to believe
the very worst things of the monastic institutions. The reports of these
visitors, whom Cobbett designates "branded ruffians," were taken by
Hume, and the rest of the party historians of England, as the grounds
and data of their attacks on the characters of the pious inmates ; and
the unaccountable hatred entertained against the Catholics, on account
of their religious belief, (for which no man is accountable to another,)
by many persons generally ignorant of their principles and history,
is,. in great part, to be attributed to the reports of those ruffian inquisit-
ors, whose falsehood was superinduced by their well-founded expec-
tation of sharing in the plunder.

Upon the reports thus obtained, an act of parlmment was passed in
March, 1536, for the confiscation of three hundred and seventy-six
monasteries, and for granting their estates, real and personal, to the king
and his heirs. He took plate, jewels, gold and silver ornaments, as well
as the lands and houses, cattle and crops. This act of naked plunder,
corrupt as his parliament was, could not be carried through the house
of commons.

Spelman, in his History of Sacrilege, — who was also a Protestant
historian, — says, speaking of the confiscation bill, "The bill stuck long
in the lower house, and could get no passage, when the king commanded
the commons to attend him in the forenoon, in his gallery, where he let
them wait till late in the afternoon ; and then, coming out of his cham-
ber, walking a turn or two amongst them, and looking angrily on them,
first on one side and then on the other, at last said he, ' I hear that my
bill will not pass ; but I ivill have it pass, or I will have some of your
heads.' And without other rhetoric, he returned to his chamber.
Enough was said : the bill passed, and all was given him as he desired.'*

It was thus that Henry carried this important measure, and it may be
added that thus he carried every thing. The reports of the visitors
and inquisitors loere not believed by the parliament, for they refused to
legislate on them, until individually threatened with execution.

The act of confiscation was passed in the year 1536, and in its pre-
amble is contained the reasons for its enactments. It includes, in a
schedule, all the smaller monasteries, amounting to three hundred and
seventy-six ; and it gives as reasons, tbat these lesser monasteries were
corrupt, carnal, and sinful, and directs the inmates to go to the larger

DISTRIBUTED AMONG THE PLIANT. EXECUTIONS. 611

monasteries, •' u-here" (as the act recites,) " thanks he to God, religion
is right well kept and observed."

I shall show, by and by, how easy he found an excuse for laying
hands on these also. Before this time, there never was such a word
known or understood, in England or Ireland, ns paujper ; but after this
time, pauperism and poverty, and poor rates, and a standing army, and
a national debt, and deadly animosities, and religious hate and exasper-
tions, and finally, the suppression of the people's liberties, ensued.

As soon as Henry was in possession of the three hundred and
seventy-six estates, he began to assign them away to his followers, for
the king soon found he could not keep all to himself; and before four
years passed over, he found himself without a single particle of the
property he had thus seized : it was all divided amongst his scram-
bling followers.

When the king complained to Cromwell of their rapacity, he used
these memorable words : " By our lady, the cormorants, when they
have'got the garbage, will devour the dish." Cromwell reminded him
that there was much more yet to come. " Tut," said the king, " my
whole realm would not stanch their maws." But this difficulty he
soon got over. I have just quoted a paragraph from the preamble of
the act, 27th Henry, called the conjiscaiion act, in which, in that
very bill, he puts on the record that, " in the great and solemn monas-
teries, (' thanks be to God,') religion is right well kept and observed."
This is the very language of the act ; and to-oiir understandings it would
seem a work of some difficulty to find any reason, in the course of four
years, for turning on the larger and more solemn establishments,
especially when we may well suppose they were strictly on their ffuard
to give no cause for censure. But we shall see this done, and that
quickly. An act was brought into the parliament, which conferred on
the king and his assigns all monasteries, all hospitals, and all colleges,
within his dominions. The people here and there flew to insurrection ;
but they were butchered, — they were hewed down, even as the butcher
despatches ox after ox, in the slaughter-house.

Seventy-two thousand persons were thus slaughtered, in

THE course of EIGHT OR TEN YEARS, UNDER PENAL ENACTMENTS,
WHICH NEVER, TILL THEN, WERE KNOWN TO THE LAWS OF ENG-
LAND.

No language can describe the horrors of this dreadful change.
Monks and nuns, bishops and priests, were executed on the slightest
suspicion of murmuring dissent.

612 INVASION OF THE SHRINES OF THE DEAD.

But — still more revolting — the shrines of the most illustrious dead were
invaded, for sake of the mere wealth which had been imbedded in them
by their friends or admirers. The tomb and shrine of St. Thomas of
Canterbury, St. Austin, and of Alfred the Great, were amongst the most
sacred objects desecrated by sacrilegious hands, and the interred dust
scattered to the winds. Many of the old and beautiful abbeys were
battered down or blown up with gunpowder. The vast libraries, that
took ages to accumulate, were taken out and burned at their doors,
which all must admit was a loss that never can be repaired.

Of course, those who so acted did all in their power to blacken the
characters of the trustees of this vast property. " Lazy monies" and
" moiikish ignorance," were phrases coined and squeezed into the English
language, to generate a prejudice in the minds of youth towards the
old occupants of the monasteries. If those who seized upon all tliis
property had, when they turned out the monks, placed in their stead
commissioners or officers under the eye of government, to administer the
trusts according to the wills of the various founders, then there w.ould
be something to color the charge of impropriety against the monks.
But not one of the duties ever performed towards society by the monks
has been ever performed by those who got their lands, from that day to
the present.

I will here quote one other extract from William Cobbett, on this
terrible change : " The whole country presented the appearance of a
land recendy invaded by barbarians. Nothing has ever yet come to
supply the place of what was then destroyed. This is the view for us
to take of the matter. It is not a matter of mere religion, but a matter
of rights, liberties, real wealth, happiness, and national greatness. If all
these have been strengthened," continues this great English writer, " or
augmented by the change, even then we must not approve of the horri-
ble means. But if they have all been weakened or lessened by that
reformation, what an outrageous abuse of words it is to call the event by
that name. And if I do not prove, clear as the daylight, that before the
reformation England was greater, more moral, more wealthy, and more
happy, than she has ever been since ; if I do not make this appear as
clearly as any fact was ever made to appear, I will be contented to be
called a vain pretender for the rest of my life." That able Protestant
writer then proceeds to show the alteration for the worse, which this
change produced in die condition of the people ; to which work the read-
er, who wishes to be more fully informed on this subject, is referred.

It is a curious fact in the history of erratic man, that, within the past
year, namely, about June, 1843, a leading lord of ihe British parliament

MONASTERIES LEGALIZED AGAIN IN ENGLAND. 613

deplored the loss of those charitable religious and literary corporations to
England, showed the incredible ignorance that every where prevailed,
and sighed for the reestabhshment of monasteries throughout England,
to assist in the restoration of morals and literature. The house of com-
mons patiently listened to the noble lord's address, and consented, on his
motion, to repeal the statute of mortmain, which was passed at the
reformation, and which forbade the existence of any religious corporation
in England. Nunneries and monasteries are again growing up in Lon-
don, and throughout England, under the authority of parliament. Thus,
then, the calumiated monks are at length vindicated, in that very cham-
ber, where, three hundred years ago, they were sentenced to destruc-
tion and infamy.

It is now time to look at King Henry's government in Ireland.

For the first twenty-five years of his reign, he left the entire manage-
ment of Ireland to his deputies and the little parliament of the Pale.
Things were carried on pretty much as they had been for the three
centuries before his time. During the early part of King Henry's reign,
the Earl of Kildare, the king's deputy, and the Earl of Surry, who suc-
ceeded him, were continually engaged in strife with the Irish chiefs.
Various were the successes and reverses of the opposed parties. Many
great men, both on the English and Irish side, fell. The chief O'Neill,
at this time the hereditary king or prince of Ulster, advanced to the very
confines of the British territory in Meath, with ten thousand foot and
four thousand horse, and offered battle to the English deputy ; which,
however, he thought it prudent to decline. Henry the Eighth subse-
quently sent O'Neill a collar of gold, and commanded Surry to invite
him to court.

By an extract from the proceedings of the privy council at Dublin,
1534, it appears that " neither the English order, tongue, nor habit, was
used, nor the king's laws obeyed, above twenty miles in compass ;" and
the council declared it to be their opinion that, unless the laws be duly
executed, the " litde place which is now obedient, will be reduced to
the same condition as the remainder of the kingdom." — State Papers,
63. — Instructions to John Allen. — The Irish chiefs, however,
in every direction, indulged their animosities towards each other, and
seemed to forget the presence of a common enemy in the country ;
against whom had they heartily united, he would not have existed in
Ireland twenty-four hours.

Soon after this, the English brought into Ireland three pieces of can-
non, which, being an engine of warfare then new to the Irish, terrified
them exceedingly in those parts of the country where it was used.

614 THE KILi>AllE iWir-il,!'.

Althougli the Earl of Kildare, as lord lieutenant, and after him his
son Gerald, had carried fire and sword throughout Ireland, in obedience
to the king's command, yet the enemies of this earl, consisting of the
Ormonds, the Ossorys, Lord Chancellor Allen, and others, sent an em-
bassy to King Henry, representing his actions in a treasonable liglU;
upon which Kildare was ordered to England, where, "on his arrival, the
king had him shut up in prison. His son, Thomas Fitzgerald, to whom
he gave the sword of state during his absence, hearing what had befallen
his father, and suspecting, moreover, that his father would be executed,
threw up the sword of stale, and declared open war against the king.
This declaration he supported with all his might, having gathered con-
siderable forces. His chief opposition, however, consisted in the ene-
mies of his family amongst the Anglo-Irish of the Pale. His father had
persecuted the old Irish too vehemently to allow many of them to join
the young earl. Yet some few of the Irish chieftains did flock to his
standard, and he undoubtedly made considerable advances towards
shaking off the power of England. Having fortified his castle of May-
nooth, and several other strongholds, he went into Connaught to collect
additional forces ; but the governor of his castle, after withstanding a
siege for ten days, treacherously offered to surrender it, expecting to
make his fortune by the base act. It deserves to be recorded that
the English general, on receiving the castle, paid the traitor the sum
agreed upon for surrendering it, but had him shot for betraying so good
a master in his absence ; which proper treatment I hope will be a
lasting lesson to all future traitors.

After a great many skirmishes and battles, and a harassing warfare,
Lord Thomas Fitzgerald proposed terms of peace to Grey, the English
deputy. This was gladly accepted, and the young earl was received
at court and pardoned. But King Henry requested him to be sent to
England, and under the assurance of safety from the lord deputy, who
proposed to accompany him, he consented to risk his life in the hands
of the King. On his arrival in London, he found his father had died
in prison, into which he was himself committed. In the beginning of
the year 1536, five uncles of the young earl, who had been under arms,
surrendered on condition of pardon, and, being invited by the deputy to
his house, were arrested at dinner, and were likewise sent to London,
where, shortly after their arrival, they and their distinguished nephew
were treacherously executed. It is not a little remarkable that this
deputy, Grey, was subsequently beheaded by Henry, his master.

There was still a youth, of the Fitzgerald race left — young Gerald,

BISHOP BROWN ANi> TKE FillMATi: OF AUiMAGH. 615

thirteen years of age, who was secreted by various relatives, and sent
to France, whither he was pursued by the agents of King Henry. He
found means to escape from Paris to Flanders, Irom thence to Rome,
where he received protection from the pope, and was finally restored to
his possessions by Edward the Sixth, which was again confirmed by
Queen Mary, who. restored him to his titles and honors.

We find that, in these times, the English absent from their Irish
estates were deemed so injurious to the interests of the Pale, that sev-
eral of their estates were confiscated to the crown, upon this ground.
Amongst the estates so confiscated were those of the Duke of Norfolk,
Lords Berkley, Waterford, Shrewsbury. Ormond, together with those
of several abbots, who resided in England. A further act against the
Irish language was now passed, and no clerk in orders was permitted to
officiate, who could not speak the English language fluently.

It was in one of the little parliaments, held about this time, that the
power to vote for members of it was restricted to those who had an
interest o{ forty shillings per annum from land.

When Henry had pretty well established his supremacy, in spiritual
matters, throughout England, he sent over to Ireland Bishop Brown,
who had preached much in London in favor of his views. With him
were coupled some others, as commissioners, to introduce the principles
of the new worship, which, after all, did not differ much from that of
the old Catholic faith, for the mass and sacraments were not yet
abolished.

On their arrival in Dublin, Bishop Brown summoned a convocation
of the clergy, to whom he proposed the oath of supremacy; but no
sooner had the commissioners opened their business, than Cromer, arch-
bishop and primate of Armagh, an Englishman by birth, openly and
boldly declared against an attempt, in his opinion, so impious. This
declaration was followed by other clerical members of the parliament.
The primate retired from the council to his diocese, where he sum-
moned his clergy, and addressed them in strong and pathetic language
against the threatened inroad upon their religion. The clergy were
every where aroused to oppose the change, and nowhere did Henry
meet with sympathy or encouragement. His commissioners were treated
with contempt and ridicule, and his chief vicar, Thomas Cromwell, on
account of the meanness of his birth, was the object of popular scorn.
From disdain and contempt for the commissioners, the people changed
to open hostility, and threatened the life of Archbishop Brown. The
deputy. Grey, the trusty and well-beloved of Henry, sallied into the

616 MASSACRES AND SACRILEGE.

diocese of Armagh, with an army of pillagers, for the purpose of striking
terror into the hearts of the clergy. He entered Lecale and the Ardes,
in the county of Down, against a nobleman of English extraction, called
Savage, to whom Cox and others give the appellation of " a degenerate
Englishman." He took the castle of Dundruin, belonging to Magennis,
with several other fortified places, and laid all that country waste. He
next laid his sacrilegious hands on the cathedral church of Down, which
he burned, destroyed the monuments of St. Patrick, St. Bridget, and
St. Columbe Kill, and committed several other sacrilegious acts. He
then made war against images, which were destroyed every where, at
this time, particularly those that were most revered by the faithful. The
celebrated statue of the blessed Virgin at Trim was burned, as also the
crucifix of the abbey of Ballybogan, and St. Patrick's crosier,* which had
been removed, by order of William Fitzadelm, in the twelfth century,
from Armagh to Dublin, to be deposited in the cathedral church of the
blessed Trinity. In many other parts of the kingdom, the example of
the English was in this instance followed ; and it must be admitted that
all the wars in Ireland, from that period to the present, have been wars
on account of religion.

Bishop Brown suggested to King Henry the calling of a parliament
in Dublin, by which acts of compulsion, confiscations, pains, and penal-
ties, might be speedily passed into law, and, by force and terror, produce
that change in men's opinions which simple reason and logic failed to
effect.

The religious persecutions, instituted by Henry towards his Irish sub-
jects, began now to unite both English and Irish; and Archbishop
Brown, in a letter to Cromwell, describes the slender power his " high-
ness" now had in Ireland, by reason, he adds, that "the English by
descent, and the ancient Irish, were beginning to forget their national
animosities ; " and notwithstanding that the little parliament of the Pale
passed several laws in conformity with his highness's wishes, the same
could not be enforced twenty miles from the castle of Dublin.

A parliament was summoned in Dublin by Grey, the king's lieutenant
of the Pale. The parliament was made up by summoning together

* " Providence," says the Abbe M'Geoghegan, " has preserved a crosier to posterity,
vvrhich St. Patrick had used at the baptism of Aongus, king of Cashel, the holy apos-
tle having left it with O'Kearney of Cashel, to be used by the bishops of that church
on days of ceremony, whose descendants have preserved it, with veneration, to the
present time. This venerable monument of Christian antiquity is still m possession
of Brien O'Kearney of Fethard, in the county of Tipperary, the chief of the ancient
family of that name."

CONFISCATIONS OF IRISH MONASTERIES. 617

such persons as he judged would be phant to the king's will. So lim-
ited, at this time, was the power and jurisdiction of the parliament of
the Pale, that the master of the rolls wrote to the king, stating that
his laws were not obeyed twenty miles from the capital. Before this
little parliament, not of more jurisdiction than a town corporation, were
the important propositions of Henry submitted. They were nothing
more than transcripts of the acts passed in Westminster. The members
of this assembly were promised possessions when the Irish monasteries
came into the king's hands. They had seen the number of commoners
that were raised to the possession of large estates, which belonged to
the English monasteries ; and they each of them naturally calculated
on like results from the approaching change in religion in Ireland. Ac-
cordingly king Henry the Eighth was, by their first act, declared su-
preme head of the church of Ireland. All appeals to Rome in spiritual
causes, and all connection with Rome, were forbidden by the next act.
The English law, making it penal to slander the king for these innova-
tions, was next passed. Another act transferred to the king all first
fruits, the abbeys, hospitals, priories, and colleges ; another renounced the
authority of the bishop of Rome, and made it criminal in any one to
acknowledge it ; another required all officers of every kind and degree,
within the king's authority, to swear that the king was the lawful head
of the church, and every person who should refuse was deemed guilty
of high treason against the Icing, and, of course, forfeited his life.

Then followed acts for the suppression of monasteries, and vesting
them in the crown ; and now commenced the work of blood in Ireland,
which has been streaming from men's hearts from that day to the
present.

Previous to this time, the religion of the whole people of Ireland, —
English or Irish, — whether within or without the Pale, was Catholic.
For a long time, there was no one professed the new form of worship
in Ireland, except Bishop Brown and the commissioners sent over by
Henry, together with some members of the parliament. From this
parliament, the clergy were excluded by special act passed on the first
day of its sitting. I should have said, that it was the long-observed
practice of this little parliament to summon two clergymen from every
ecclesiastical district ; but as, on the first parliament which met in
Dublin, to consider Henry's proposals, these clerical members strenuous-
ly opposed them, therefore, from the commencement of this, the second
sitting on this business, the clerg}' were ejected.

Seeing the slaughter committed in England, the Irish abbots were
78

618 BRIBERY OF THE IRISH GENTRY.

frightened into submission ; many of them surrendered the abbeys
and properties under their management to the king, receiving pensions
for hfe.

The open intention of Henry's parliament, not at all disguised, to
effect a forcible change in the religion of the nation, and to take posses-
sion of the monasteries, roused the people to a sense of their danger.
The chiefs of the old Irish, and the chiefs of the old English settlers,
now united most cordially in their opposition to Henry's authority ;
and, had they persevered, there is no doubt but they could have
shaken off the power of England altogether. But Henry, observing
this, changed his tactics, and, instead of acts of coercion, showered
presents, titles, honors, and emoluments, of one sort and another, upon
all the Irish chiefs he could influence.

The kings of England never before this time assumed any other title
over Ireland than lords of Ireland. This venal litde parliament enact-
ed that his highness the king, and his heirs, should in future be denomi
nated kings of Ireland. But these enactments were treated with scorn
by the nation, and on the death of King Henry, many of the chief men,
whom he had cajoled into the color of obedience, relapsed into their
former state of independence.

To return to Henry : After Jane Seymour's death, the king was nearly
two years seeking another wife ; few were willing to trust their lives to
him. In 1539, he found a mate in Anne, the sister of the Duke of
Cleves. When about seven months married, he obtained a divorce
from her. There was no fault alleged against her, no crime hinted ;
the husband did not like his wife, — that was all, — and this reason was
alleged as the ground of divorce. His pliant archbishop, Cranmer,
who had divorced him from two wives already, was called upon to
annul this marriage" with Anne of Cleves. The husband and wife
were, by the archbishop's potent breath, made single again.

But the king had another young and handsome wife in his view,
namely, Catharine Howard, niece of the Duke of Norfolk, whom he
immediately married.

The Duke of Norfolk, (now raised to power,) and several of the old
nobility, hated Thomas Cromwell, who was the chief instrument, in the
nands of King Henry, in all the important changes he made. He had
been placed above all the nobility; and, besides diis, he had got about
thirty of the estates belonging to the monasteries. " His palace," says
Cobbett, " was gorged with the fruits of the sacking." He was barbarous
beyond conception to the poor monks and nuns, whom he had butchered

CROMWELL. DEATH OF HENKY THE EIGHTH. 619

with the business coolness of an ordinary butcher in his slaughter-house.
He stood by, in Canterbury, and superintended the scattering of the
dust of St. Thomas a Becket. He it was that directed the scatter-,
ing of the ashes and tomb of Alfred the Great, who was the greatest
Englishman that ever lived. His own hour had now arrived. The
property he had acquired was too valuable to be suffered to remain in
his hands. On the morning of the 10th of June, 1540, he was all
powerful. In the evening of the same day, he was in prison as a
traitor. He lay in prison only a few days, when he was brought to the
block. It is true he protested his innocence ; but so did thousands of
monks and nuns protest to him their innocence. He was not more
innocent than they were, yet they were executed. Although Burnet,
or Fox, has denoniinated this Cromwell the valiant soldier of the
reformation, yet he fawned and cringed to his royal master like a very
dastard. In one of his letters to the king, he " besought his majesty to
suffer him to kiss his balmy hand once, that the fragrance thereof
might make him fit for heaven I ^'' In another letter to the king, he
says, '•' Most gracious prince, I cry for mercy, mercy, mercy I " But his
gracious master disregarded all these fawning words, and he was brought
to suffer that very death, which he himself, when in power, had
awarded and inflicted on so many thousands.

During the succeeding seven years. King Henry was beset witii
vexations. He discovered, or pretended to discover, that his new wife
was unfaithful. Her, also, he sent to the block without ceremony, simply
by his warrant,, together ivith scores of her relatives. He raged and
foamed like a wild monster ; passed still more stringent laws, and, for
the last time, took another wife. She was a widow, and she very nar-
rowly escaped the fate of the others.

For some years before his death, he became so unwieldy from
gluttony and enjoyment, that he could not be moved about but by
mechanical loungers ; but he still retained all the blood-thirsty addic-
tions of his previous life. His principal business for the remainder of
it was ordering accusations, executions, and confiscations.

When he was on his death-bed, every one was afraid to intimate his
danger to him, lest death to the intimater should be the consequence.
He died before he was aware that his end approached, leaving more
than one death-warrant unsigned at the time. And Howard, the Duke
of Norfolk, who was ordered for execution on the very morning the
king died, escaped with his life in consequence.

Thus died King Henry the Eighth of England.

620 LIMITED POWER OF THE ENGLISH IN IRELAND.

Ere I close the reign of this King, I shall put on my record an ex-
tract from a state paper, published in O'Connell's Memoir, (page 77,
.Casserly's edition.) " The document," says the illustrious author, " is to
be found in the second volume of the state papers, lately published under
the authority of a commission from the crown, containing state papers
of the reign of Henry the Eighth, and appears to be a representation
made to that monarch of the state of Ireland, with a plan for its reforma-
tion:"— "And fyrst of all, to make his Grace understande, that there
byn more than sixty countrys called regyons, in Ireland, inhabyted with
the king's enemies : some region as big as a shire, some more, some less
unto a little ; some as big as half a shire, and some a little less ; where
reigneth more than sixty chief captains, whereof some calleth themselves
kings : some king's peers, in their language, some princes, some dukes,
some archdukes, that liveth only by the sword, and obeyeth to no other
temporal person, but only to himself that is strong. And every of the
said captains maketh war and peace for himself, and holdeth by sworde
and hath imperial jurisdiction within his rome, and obeyeth to no other
person, English or Irish, except only to such persons as may subdue
him by the sworde. Also, there is more than thirty great captains of
the English noble folk, that followeth the same Irish order, and keepeth
the same rule, and every of them maketh war and peace for himself,
without any license of the king, or of any other temporal person, save
to him that is the strongest, and of such that may subdue them by the
sword.'"

Next, as to the counties that had thrown off the English authority,
we have this passage : " Here followeth the names of the counties
that obey not the king's laws, and have neither justice, neither sheriffs,
under the king : —

The County of Waterfford,

The County of Corke,

The County of Kilkenny,

The County of Lymeryk,

The County of Kerry,

The County of Conaught, [the province of Connaught,]

The County of Wolster, [the province of Ulster,]

The County of Carlagh, [Carlow,]

The County of Uryell, [Monaghan,]

The County of Meathe, [Westmeath,]

Halfe the County of Dublin,

TRIBUTES PAID TO THE IRISH PRINCES. 621

Halfe the County of Kildare,
Halfe the County of Wexford.

'•' All the English folke of the said counties, of Irish habit, of Irish
language, and of Irish conditions, except the cities and the walled
towns.

" Here followeth the names of the counties subject unto the king's
laws : —

Halfe the County of Uryell,

Halfe the County of Meathe,

Halfe the County of Dublin,

Halfe the County of Kildare,

Halfe the County of Wexford.

" All the common people of the said halfe counties, that obeyeth the
king's laws, for the most part be of Irish birth, of Irish habit, and of
Irish language."

" It will be seen, from another extract from the same paper, how com-
pletely the independence of the Irish chieftains was recognized by all
the English constituted authorities.

" Followeth the names of the English territories that hear tribute to
the wylde Irish. Tlie barony of Liechahill, in the county of Wolster,
[Ulster,] to the captain of Clanhuboy, payeth yearly 40 £ ; or else to
O'Neyll, whether of them be strongest.

"The county of the Uryell [Monaghan] payeth yearly to the great
0\Neyll 40 £.'

"The county of Meathe payeth yearly to O'Connor 300 £. The
county of Kildare payeth yearly to the said O'Connor 20 £.

" The king's exchequer payeth yearly to M'Morough eighty marks.
The county of Wexford payeth yearly to M'Morough and to Arte
O'Boy 40 £.

"The county of Kilkenny and the county of Tipperary pay yearly to
O'CarroU 40 £. The county of Limerick payeth yearly to O'Brien
Arraghe, in English money, 40 £. The county of Corke to Cormac
M'Teyge, 40£.

" Also there is no folke daily subject to the king's laws, but half the
county of Uryell, half the county of Meathe, half the county of Dublin,
and half the county of Kildare."

622 THE BIBLE FIRST SUPPRESSED BY HENRY THE EIGHTH.

It is usual with historians to sum up the character of the kings and
heroes whose actions they recount. I have not, generally, attempted
this, and in the instance of Henry the Eighth, I wish to avoid it
altogether. Some persons have regarded him as an apostle of a great
principle ; others think differently. I have placed a few only of
the materials of his life before the reader. As I claim the liberty to
enjoy my own opinions, 1 willingly concede the same to the read-
er, who is welcome to form what opinion he pleases of Henry the
Eighth.

I wish, however, to state one more fact about this memorable re-
former. We hear a great deal said every day about reading the Bible,
and not reading the Bible. Who will believe it ? — Henry the Eighth
was the first person we read of who forbade to the common people the
reading of the Scriptures. As head of the reformed church, he issued,
under the authority of parliament, in the S4th of his reign, the 8th
chapter, a prohibition against Tyndall's version of the Scriptures, which
was ordered to be destroyed, as " cr of ty, false, and untrue ; " secondly,
the Bible, by this act, was forbidden to be read to others in public ;
thirdly, the permission of reading it to private families was confined to
persons of the rank of lords and gendemen ; fourthly, the liberty of
reading it personally, and in secret, was limited to men who were
householders, and to females of noble or gentle birth. Prior to this, the
king issued a proclamation, prohibiting the public reading of the Scrip-
tures in churches, and forbidding any one to expound them who had not
received a regular license from the accustomed authorities for that
pur})ose. Before his time, there never was any restriction imposed on
reading the Scriptures.

On the death of Henry the Eighth, his son, Edward the Sixth, was
advanced to the throne. As he was then but ten years of age, Lord
Hertford was appointed lord protector. The young king, with his
protector and Archbishop Cranmer, now made a further change in the
national religion. The mass was abolished, and the clergy were per-
mitted to have wives.

Many persons came into England, who preached a still greater
change. These were called " new lights ; " and they were as bitterly
opposed and persecuted by Bishop Cranmer as were the Catholics.
Bishop Cranmer, who, during the reign of Henry the Eighth, had con-
demned people to the stake for not believing in transubstantiation, was
now ready to condemn them for believing in it.

Luther found in Germany others who went much farther frorn the

INSURRECTION IN ENGLAND. QUEEN MARY. 623

old worship than himself. Many of these German sectarians came to
England, and openly preached against the existence of gospel ministers
at all. Some were for the Common Prayer Book, others for abolishing
it. And now began that diversity of opinion, in England, which,
without reference to a future state, produced a great deal of bitterness
and animosity amongst the people — which yet exists ; and truth com-
pels me to add, that that bitterness has extended to a large portion of
the population of this country, though the clear interest of people, both
in this life and in view of the next, is to treat one another with the
utmost kindness and charity.

The preachers of the various new opinions disclaimed altogether the
necessity of good works in the Christian system of duties and worship.
And all historians agree that vices of all sorts were never so great or
so prevalent before in England. The protector, who was now Duke of
Somerset, pulled down several churches and bishops' mansions in Lon-
don ; with the materials of which he erected for himself a palace that
goes by the name of " Somerset House " to this day ; in which, appro-
priately enough, the commissioners for the national debt have their
offices.

The further changes introduced by Somerset in the religion of the
nation, produced a violent insurrection throughout some parts of Eng-
land. German troops were introduced into England, at the head of
whom. Lord Russell marched and defeated the revolters, hanging and
butchering many clergymen and other leaders of the resistance. The
present Lord John Russell is the descendant of that lord, and is the
owner of many of the monastic estates then taken from the church.

Somerset, having at length excited the envy of his rivals by the
enormous wealth he acquired, was out-intrigued by the Earl of Warwick,
and was condemned and executed, by the order of his own nephew, the
young King Edward, who wept bitterly on being compelled to sign
the death-warrant ; so that he, at whose instigation many priests and
pious men were executed, in turn fell a victim to the bloody system
he had encouraged.

We have heard and read much of Queen Mary of England, whom
the English historians distinguish by the special epithet " bloody."
Why she, beyond others of that age, can alone be accounted
bloody, and sent down to posterity with that brand upon her mem-
ory, can be accounted for only that she was a Catholic. I am now
coming into her reign, and shall examine its chief events with im-
pai'tiality.

624 DEATH OF KING EDWARD.

Edward the Sixth was a sickly boy, and his protector foresaw he
could not live long. Northumberland, therefore, got him privately to
make a will, bequeathing the crown to Lady Jane Grey, the daugh-
ter of the Duke of Suffolk. Henry had already bequeathed the
crown to Mary, and, in case of no issue from her, then to Eliza-
beth. The young king, however, was prevailed on to break that will,
and set aside his two sisters. Edward soon died ; and, to carry this
project into immediate effect, his death was concealed for three days.
Northumberland invited the two princesses, Mary and Elizabeth, to
London, to be near the dying prince. His object was to have them
arrested and sent to the Tower, soon after which they were to be tried
for refusing to conform to the new worship, and would, of course, be
executed. Both Mary and Elizabeth were still Catholics.

Bishop Cranmer was deep in this plot. But one of the conspirators,
Lord Arundel, sent a private message to the Princess Mary, to warn
her of her danger, and intimating that the young king was dead.

The proclamation in behalf of Lady Jane Grey was prepared ; but
the judges of Westminster Hall refused to sign it. Bishop Cranmer'' s
was the first signature to the illegal proclamation ; for which, and for
other treasonable acts towards Queen Mary, the said Cranmer was
subsequently condemned to death, and burnt, as a traitor, by order of
the queen and her council.

Lady Jane Grey was declared queen of England. Northumberland,
in the mean time, effected a marriage between her and his son. The
conspirators against Mary had the army, navy, and reformers, all
ready to support this violation of the succession. She, however,
repaired, on horseback, attended only by a few persons, to Suffolk,
where she had herself proclaimed sovereign, and from thence issued
her commands, to the council in London, to proclaim her queen. This
threw them into the utmost confusion, for they had but the day before
proclaimed Lady Jane Grey as queen ; and it shows us what a
courageous woman Mary must have been, thus to brave death in the
enforcement of her just rights. They sent her a most insolent answer,
but she heeded it not.

The old nobility and gentry, tired of Cranmer and the protector,
flocked round her standard, and in a few days, she saw herself sur-
rounded by thirty thousand volunteers, who agreed to fight in her behalf
without pay.

The celebrated Ridley, a bishop of the new faith, preached against
her, in London, and the Duke of Northumberland marched against

' GRAND ENTRY OF MARY INTO LONDON. 625

her at the head of a large army ; his forces mehed away as he
proceeded, and he sent to London for a further reenforcement. But
the news of Mary's success paralyzed the Londoners, and those very
men who, a few days before, shouted for Lady Jane, now came for-
ward and formally acknowledged Mary as their lawful queen. North-
umberland, who had helped along this plot, now seeing himself
deserted, turned round, and was the first to offer his subjection and
flattery to Queen Mary, which she spurned as became a woman of her
spirit ; and in a few hours after, she had him arrested for treason to
her crown, and for appearing in arms against her authority. This
very Northumberland, when brought to the block for treason to the
queen, made a confession in favor of the old faith, and attributed all
the blood and misery of the preceding thirty years to the change effect-
ed in their form of worship. This, Dr. Heylyn, a good English au-
thority, and others, testify.

During the short reign of the infant Edward, which occupied only
seven years, the form of the new worship was changed three times.
And those who adhered to the old worship, or who went beyond the
letter of the new, were punished with the utmost severity.

Anno 1553. Queen Mary arrived in London in July of this year.
As she approached the city, the crowds to applaud and welcome her
increased on every side. Amongst the rest was her cautious and crafty
sister, Elizabeth, who joined in the triumphal entry, riding, by the side
of her sister, into London, amidst the greatest enthusiasm of the people.
The thoroughfares through which they passed were strewed with
flowers. The houses were lined, and the very tops of them thronged,
with human beings. Queen Mary, who had ever been a steadfast
Catholic, was now crowned according to the ritual of that church.
The joy of the people, it is admitted on all hands, was unbounded.

Her first act was to restore the currency to its proper standard, which
was debased in the preceding reigns ; her second to pay off the debts
due by the crown ; and, for this purpose, she reduced her own expenses
to the very lowest standard. The new forms of worship, which had
obtained a footing the previous three years, were all reversed ; the
old altars were restored ; the married clergy were dispensed with ;
and, in short, the Catholic religion was restored in England. The
bishops ordained by Cranmer were removed, and Catholic bishops
placed in their stead. Cranmer himself was imprisoned on a charge
of treason ; and that parliament, which voted so pliantly all that was
79

626 MARRIAGE OF THE QUEEN WITH PHILIP OF SPAIN.

asked of them by the preceding kings, now voted right round the other
way.

They brought in a bill, repealing the act of divorce between Henry
and Catharine of Arragon, the mother of the present queen. They
declared that marriage lawful, which a few years previously they had
declared the contrary ; and they declared Cranmer, by name, the cause
of that divorce, and all the subsequent troubles that befell England.

But now comes the most curious part of this curious history. The
queen was anxious to restore the pope's supremacy in England, and to
remove from her own shoulders the oppressive weight of " head of the
church," assumed by her father. But to do this was, she saw, impos-
sible, without effecting a compromise. Every leading lord or com-
moner in her dominion had got some of the church property, and,
without a civil war, she could not compel them to give it up. The
compromise, then, was based on the principle that all the holders of the
church property should possess it forever.

This parliament, then, having made a firm bargain to hold all the prop-
erty, an act was quickly carried through both branches, in which these
very men declared " that they had been guilty of a most horrible defec-
tion from the true church ; " professed their sincere repentance for their
past transgressions, and declared their resolution to repeal all laws
enacted in prejudice of the pope's authority. After this, the pope sends
a legate to England ; and who should he be, but that very Cardinal
Pole, whose mother was butchered, though seventy years of age, by
Henry the Eighth ?

The queen married Philip, prince of Spain, in July, 1554. In No-
vember, the members of the parliament petitioned the king and queen to
intercede with the pope, and obtain for them forgiveness. Cardinal
Pole was received at Dover by two thousand of the nobility and gentry,
on horseback. The next day, the queen being seated on the throne,
having the king on her left, and the pope's legate (Cardinal Pole) on
her right, — the members of both houses appeared, ivith Bishop Gar-
diner at their head. He, on their part, besought the king's and queen's
interposition with his eminence, and asked forgiveness. Cardinal Pole
pronounced a long discourse ; at the end of which, he blessed them, and
forgave them, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, — the
members making the hall resound with cries of " Amen ! "

Thus was flngland made Catholic again, by that very law, and by
the very men that had made her Protestant in the last two reigns.

WHY CALL MART BLOODY? 627

We have been made familiar, in our school days, with the name of
" Bloody Mary," and the Smithfield fires. But why she deserved the
appellation of bloody, any more than her father Henry, or her sister
Elizabeth, I cannot make out. They were all bloody; and although
they shed blood under pretence of upholding the Christian reHgion,
the genius and spirit of Christianity wept over their terrible deeds.
The total number of persons put to death by Henry the Eighth, for
religious and political opinions, was seventy-two thousand. The total
number put to death by Queen Mary was two hundred and seventy-
six. The total number put to death by Elizabeth, in England and
Ireland, exceeded a million of human beings.

Now, upon what ground Queen Mary could be singled out as more
bloody than her father and sister, is incomprehensible. But, on the
accession of Elizabeth, the celebrated Fox was employed to write a
history of those who suffered death in the reign of Mary ; and, curious
enough, some of the " martyrs " included in Fox's book were alive in
his time, and confronted him to his face. Bishops Cranmer and Rid-
ley were executed for treason against Mary's crown ; as were indeed
very many of the two hundred and seventy-six that were executed in
her reign. But Fox gave her a bad name, to frighten people from the
Catholic faith, to which Queen Mary and her husband, Philip, were
zealously attached. In Ireland, not one suffered death, for religion's
sake, during her reign ; and it is quite certain, that seventy Protest-
ant families, who fled from Bristol, under an apprehension that she was
about to retaliate on the persecutors of her mother, were kindly and
hospitably received by the Catholics of Dublin, who provided for them
houses of entertainment and shelter. Nor was this the only instance of
Ireland's hospitality to the persecuted : when the Huguenots were
driven out of France, in a subsequent reign, many of them repaired to
Ireland for shelter, and found it.

From Parnell's Historical Apology, — quoted in O'Connell's Memoir.
" Though the religious feelings of the Irish Catholics, and their feelings
as men, had been treated with very little ceremony during two preced-
ing reigns, they made a wise and moderate use of their ascendency.
They entertained no resentment for the past, they laid no
PLANS FOR future DOMINATION. Evcu Lelaud allows that the only
instance of popish zeal was annulling grants that Archbishop Brown had
made, to the injury of the see of Dublin. The assertors of the reforma-
tion, during the preceding reigns, were every way unmolested — such

628 IRELAND A REFUGE FOR THE PERSECUTED.

was the general spirit of toleration that many English families,

FRIENDS TO THE REFORMATION, TOOK REFUGE IN IrELAND, AND THERE
ENJOYED THEIR OPINIONS AND WORSHIP WITHOUT MOLESTATION."

The Irish Protestants, vexed that they could not prove a single in-
stance of bigotry against the Catholics, in this their hour of trial, invented
a tale, as palpably false as it is childish, of an intended persecution, (but
a persecution by the English government, not by the Irish Catholics.)
And so much does bigotry pervert all candor and taste, that even the
Earl of Cork, Archbishop Usher, and Dr. Leland, were not ashamed to
support the silly story of Dean Cole and the knave of clubs!

How ought those perverse and superficial men to blush, who have
said that the Irish Roman Catholics must be bigots and rebels from the
very nature of their religion, and who have advanced this falsehood in
the very teeth of fact, and contrary to the most distinct evidence of bis-
toYj ! The Irish Roman Catholics bigots ? The Irish Roman Cath-
olics ARE the only sect THAT EVER RESUMED POWER WITHOUT

EXERCISING VENGEANCE

Show a brighter instance, if you can, in the whole page of history.
Was this the conduct of Knox or Calvin ? or of the brutal council of
Edward the Sixth, who signed its bloody warrants with tears? Has
this been the conduct of Irish Protestants ? Taylor, the Protestant
author of the Civil Wars, says, p. 169: — " It is but justice to this ma-
ligned body, the Catholics, to add that, on three occasions of their-
obtaining the upper hand, they never injured a single person, in life or
limb, for professing a religion different from their own. They had suf-
fered persecution and had learned mercy — as they showed in the reign
of Mary ; in the wars of 1641 to 1648; and during the brief triumph
of James the Second."

And, in looking back upon the early history of Ireland, we find re-
corded by O'Halloran, that, on the fall of Rome, " the confusion and
distresses in Britain and Gaul caused numbers of people fiom these and
other countries of Europe to flee to Ireland, as to the only country where
peace, subordination, and hospitality, then existed. The Irish received
these strangers with their accustomed benevolence, assigning them lands
and houses to live in and occupy. These places yet retain the names
of the different people on whom they were then bestowed. For
instance, in the county of Limerick they have Gall-haile, or the Gauls'
town, Baile na Francoigh, or the Franks' town ; and scarcely is there
a county of the kingdom in which there is not some place named after

MASSACRE OF MULLAGHMAST. 629

the persecuted tribes who, in those days, flew to Ireland for an asylum.
These are found in districts in every direction, and are called after
the different people who fled to its hospitable valleys; as "the British,
the Saxon, Gaulish, or Franktown."

Yet let justice be done Mary, " though the heavens fall." She was a
zealous religionist, a conscientious woman, even to restoring every parti-
cle of the church property she had been bequeathed by the king, her
father, and by Edward, her brother. As to Latimer, Ridley, and
Cranmer, — who" changed from whole Catholics to half Protestants,
under Henry the Eighth, to whole Protestants under Edward the Sixth,
and offered to change back again and be Catholics under Mary, — their
deaths never could be ranked amongst the deaths of martyrs. Cranmer
made six recantations of the errors of the Protestant faith, in the reign
of Mary ; but all did not save him, for he had plotted against the
queen's crown, and had been guilty of too many butcheries to be
pardoned.

Mary died of dropsy, when only six years on the throne. No issue
came from her marriage with Philip, who, on her death, returned to
Spain, where his father, Charles the Fifth, resigned him a part of the
Spanish empire, then the greatest in the world, and soon after retired
to a monastery.

During the most brilliant part of Queen Mary's reign, in England,
she confiscated, in Ireland, the immense tract of country owned, for
twelve hundred years, by the O'Mores, O'Connors, and O'Dempseys,
of Leinster, which tracts were changed, in name, into the " King's and
Queen's counties." It was during the battles between the queen's
deputy and the chiefs of these clans, that the horrible butchery of
Mullaghmast took place ; where three hundred chiefs, who had been
invited to a peaceful conference, were surrounded and basely butchered,
by orders of the Earl of Essex.

O'Connell thus alluded to this tragedy at the dinner, given in Sep-
tember, 1843, on the very spot where the butchery took place: —
" It is not by accident that to-night we are on the Rath of Mullagh-
mast ; it was deliberate design ; and yet it is curious what a spot we are
assembled on. I anticipated it, and I now rejoice in it. Where my
voice is sounding, and you are quiet hearers attentively listening, there
were once raised the yells of despair, the groans of approaching death,
the agony of wounds inflicted on the perishing and the unarmed. On
this very spot they fell beneath the swords of the Saxon, who used them

630 MASSACRE OF MULLAGHMAST.

securely, and delightedly grinding their victims to death. Here the
Saxon triumphed, here he raised a shout of victory over his unarmed
prey. Upon this very spot three hundred able men perished, who, con-
fiding in Saxon promises, came to a conference of the queen's subjects,
and in the merriment of the banquet they were slaughtered. There
never returned home but one. Their wives were widowed, and their
children were orphans; in their homesteads the shriek of despair; the
father and the husband steeped in their own blood, their wives and
mothers wept over them in vain. O, Saxon cruelty, how it does de-
light my heart to think you dare not attempt such a feat again ! "

MUSIC AND POETRT.

63:

THE RATH OF MULLAGHMAST.

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MUSIC A.ND POETRY.

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While cup and song abound,

The triple lines surround

The closed and guarded mound,

In the night's dark noon !
Alas ! too brave O'More !
Ere the revelry was o'er,
They have spilled thy young heart's gore;

Snatched from love too soon !

At the feast, unarmed all,
Priest, bard, and chieftain fall
In the treacherous Saxon's hall,

O'er the bright wine bowl !
And now, nightly, round the board.
With unsheathed and reeking sword,
Strides the cruel felon lord,

Of the blood-stained soul !

Since that hour, the clouds that passed
O'er the Rath of Mullaghmast,

MUSIC AND POETRY.

633

One drop have never cast

On the gore-dyed sod !
For the shower of crimson rain,
That o'erflowed that fatal plain.
Cries aloud, and not in vain,

To the most high God !

Though the Saxon snake unfold
At thy feet his scales of gold,
And vow thee love untold.

Trust him not, green land !
Touch not with gloveless clasp
A coiled and deadly asp,
But with strong and guarded grasp,

In your steel-clad hand !

Then raise the cry to Heaven ;
Let the tyrant's chains be riven,
And freedom now be given

To our own green land 1
And ever, Graunia Waile,
Let your power so prevail.
As to guard your children's weal

By their own right hand!

FAIR MARGARET.

^Prrrrd

T'rrr

ifasftf

gr^pjggg

LECTURE XVI.

f^ROM A. D. 1560 TO 1603.

Mary, Queen of Scotland. — Elizabeth's Jealousy. — Mary Stuart's Misfortunes. —
Arrives in Scotland. — Darnley. — Rizzio. — Bothwell. — Rebellion. — Mary put
into Prison. — Escapes to Elizabeth, who reconsigns her to Prison. — Her Con-
demnation and Murder. — Laws against the Poor. — Penal Laws against Catho-
lics. — The English Inquisition. — Sufferings of the Catholics. — Catholics
petition the Queen. — Sends the Bearer of the Petition to Prison. — Invents
Tortures. — The Rack. — Cruelties of Elizabeth. — Her Character by Wade. —
Extends the Reformation to Ireland. — Opposition of the Parliament of the
English Pale. — Bribery. — Invasions from England. — Nature of the Irish Clans.

— Tendency to Disunion. — Elizabeth's Agents crafty. — Swarms of English
Adventurers invade Ireland. — Noble Resistance of the Irish. — Sketch of the
Fifteen Years' War. — O'Neill, Prince of Ulster. — Battle of Derry. — Defeat
of the English — Fall of O'Neill. — His Successor. — Cosby 's Massacre. —
Foreign Aid from the Pope. — Bravery of Fitzmaurice. — Success of Desmond
against the Invaders. — The Invaders defeated by O'Byrne. — Surrender of the
Spanish Garrison. — Treacherous Massacre. — Fall of Desmond . — Foreign Semina-
ries. — Dreadful Cruelties. — Confiscations on a grand Scale. — The great Hugh
O'Neill. — The Spanish Armada. — The gallant O'Ruark. — Trinity College. —
Battle of the Ford of the Biscuits. — The War in Connaught. — O'Neill takes the
Field. — His Preparations. — Negotiation opened by the Invaders. — Several Battles.

— Defeat of the Invaders. — Invaders offer Terms of Peace to O'Neill. — Declined.

— Battle of Armagh. — Defeat of the Invaders. — Rising of Leinster. — Con-
fusion in England. — Further Invasions. — Battle of Binburb. — Defeat of the
Invaders. — Their Negotiations for Peace. — Battle of Beal-an-a-Buidh. — Defeat
of the Invaders. — Munster League. — Confederacy of Leinster. — Of Connaught.

— Great Army of Invaders land. — The Earl of Essex. — The Battle of the
Pass of the Plumes. — The War in the North. — Battle of Corslieve. — Defeat
of the Invaders. — Essex seeks a Conference with O'Neill. — O'Neill marches
through Ireland. — The gallant O'Moore. — Mount Joy sent to Ireland. — His
Cruelty. — Reverses of the Irish. — Spanish Aid. — Fall of Desmond. — The
War in the South. — Aid from Ulster. — Surrender of Kinsale. — The War in
Ulster. — War in Munster. — Siege of Dunboy. — Aid from Spain. — Great
Battle of Dunboy. — Fall of Dunboy. — Retreat of O'Sullivan Bearre. — Triumph
of O'Neill, and Peace. — Death of Queen Elizabeth. — Her Poor Law.

I NOW come into the reign of Queen Elizabeth. She was the
daughter of Henry the Eighth, by Anne Boleyn. EHzabeth, during
the reign of her brother, Edward the Sixth, was a Protestant ; and,

MARY STUART. ELIZABETh's JEALOUSY. 635

durii)g the reign of Queen Mary, was a most rigid Catholic. At the
time of her sister's death, she went pubhcly to mass, and had a chapel
and confessor in her own house. Queen Mary, on her death-bed, required
of her sister a frank avowal of her opinions on rehgion. Ehzabelh, in
answer, prayed God, that the earth might open and swallow her, if she
were not a true Roman Catholic. Her accession having been in the
usual way notified to foreign powers, she sent an ambassador specially
to the pope, who, however, refused to recognize her, on the ground that
Elizabeth was born out of wedlock. This was sufficient to alarm and
inflame her against the holy see. She had, also, another great cause of
apprehension about her quiet enjoyment of the throne of England ;
which was the real and legitimate tide to that throne, and to that of
Scotland, of the beautiful but unfortunate Mary, " queen of Scots."

Mary Stuart was the daughter of James the Fifth, king of Scot-
land, by a French princess, sister of the celebrated Duke of Guise.
Mary Stuart's father died when she was only eight days old ; so that
she became the reigning queen of Scotland while in the cradle. She
was the grand niece of Henry the Eighth. Queen Mary being dead,
and Elizabeth having been bastardized, both by acts of Henry's and
Mary's parliaments, — in addition to which, not being recognized by
France, Spain, or by Rome, — Mary Stuart had, therefore, strong
claims and most likely chances to sit on the throne of England.

A regency having been established in Scotland, the infant queen was
taken by her powerful uncle, the Duke of Guise, to be educated in
France — of which he was then a prime minister. The French, in
order to secure Scotland to their interest against England, got Mary be-
trothed to Francis, son of Henry the Second king of France; and, at
seventeen years of age, the young queen of Scotland was married to the
young French prince, who was but fifteen years of age. This took
place in 1558, the very year that Elizabeth ascended the throne of
England. In a few months after, the old king of France died, and,
by this death, Mary Stuart was elevated, with her husband, to the
throne of France. Thus she was queen of France and of Scotland, in
fact, and the legitimate heiress to the throne of England ; besides all,
she was the most beautiful woman in Europe.

Elizabeth's natural pride found in all these circumstances materials
enough for excitement and alarm. Rejected by the pope as illegiti-
mate, her advisers hinted to her to fall back on the Protestant
feelings of such as favored the career of Henry, her father, and Edward,

636 MARY Stuart's misfortunes.

her brother. She seized, and acted on, this suggestion with vigor.
Besides this, there was still another consideration which would weigh
with the English — Mary Stuart was now queen of France ; if Elizabeth
died before her, or died without issue, then England had become a
province of France. The bare idea of this — the remote apprehension
of the thing — was quite sufficient to stir up the national feelings of the
English nation. The nation had no choice but one ^either to uphold
Elizabeth, or to become a great province of France. To the latter
they would not submit, and, therefore, they decided in favor of
Elizabeth, and the setting aside of Mary.

Before I come to the direct acts of Elizabeth, in reference to
Ireland, I will trace very rapidly the career and fate of the beautiful
but unfortunate queen of the Scots.

As I have already said, Mary was married to the young prince of
France, whose father died in a few months after they were united.
She was thus placed on the throne of France, with her husband, sur-
rounded by all that earth could offer in the way of splendor, power,
human admiration, and popular applause. But these enjoyments
were to be of short duration. Her husband, Francis the Second,
died seventeen months after his accession ; and, as the laws of France
forbid the occupancy of the throne by a woman, Mary was suddenly
obliged to retire from that horizon which her presence illumined for so
short a period. She was still a queen — queen of the Scottish nation ;
and to that nation she was advised by her friends to return, and assume
its government. On her arrival in Scotland, she found all in factious
confusion. Her long absence had encouraged rival chieftains to array
the country in hostile clans ; besides which, the doctrines of the
reformation were vigorously preached by John Knox, who had been a
monk.

Mary, who had been bred a Catholic, and who was deified in the
court of France, found her situation in Scotland truly miserable.
Besides all this, the agents of Elizabeth were set to work to stir up
factions against her; and, through the agency of her money, became
more truly the rulers of Scotland than Mary. About three years after
her return to Scotland, she married Henry Stuart, Earl of Darnley,
her cousin. Darnley was a Protestant, Mary a Catholic ; they soon
differed and separated.

Darnley soon after became jealous of the queen's private secretary,
JBdzzio; and with a band of assassins, rushed into her presence while

REBELLION. qUEEN MARY IMPRISONED AND EXECUTED. 637

seated at supper with the ladies of her court. Rizzio was in attend-
ance. They seized and stabbed him at her feet.

Darnley was himself blown up by gunpowder, in about a year after,
in a house where he slept, near Edinburgh. This is placed at the
door of the Earl of Bothwell. Soon after this, Mary gave birth to a
son, who was afterwards James the First of England.

The Earl of Bothwell shortly after, with a band of horsemen, seized
the queen, as she was returning from a visit to her child. He carried
her, by force, to his castle of Dunbar, where she was partly compelled
to promise to marry him. This extorted promise she complied with in
the most solemn manner, in a few days after, before all the authorities
of Scotland.

Whitaker, an English historian, acquits Mary of all participation in
the crime of Darnley's death ; so, also, does William Cobbett. But, be
this correct or not, a part of her subjects rebelled against her, headed
by the Earl of Murray, her natural brother. The queen's forces were
defeated ; Bothwell, her husband, flew to Denmark ; she was put into
prison by her own subjects, and her infant son was crowned, at thirteen
months old. King of Scotland, Murray assuming the regency.

Mary now saw herself dethroned and in prison. Queen Elizabeth,
privately gloating over her fall, affected to feel pity for her situation, and
aatually invited her to her court at Windsor. In an evil hour, Mary lis-
tened to these seductive invitations ; and no sooner did she arrive within
the authority of Queen Elizabeth, than she was arrested and put into
prison, where she remained for nineteen years. Her prison was
changed three times ; but out of confinement she never after got.
Elizabeth had her tried several times upon various charges, which
Whitaker and other historians pronounce to be forged. The ministers
of Elizabeth suggested to have her despatched by poison. She was at
length tried, on some trumped-up charge of treason, and found guilty
by a court composed of Elizabeth's friends. Her death-warrant was
signed, and remained for four months unexecuted. In the mean time,
the emissaries of the queen tried every means in their power to despatch
the queen of Scots by poison. Execution was at length done on her,
without allowing her the benefit of a clergyman of her own communion,
and the hypocrite Elizabeth affected great horror on hearing of her
death, and actually imprisoned her secretary, Davison, for putting her
own wishes and orders into execution.

On this act towards Queen Mary, Whitaker, an English protestant
divine, has made the following remarks : —

638 PENAL LAWS AGAINST CATHOLICS.

" The legal murder of Mary of Scotland took place on the 8th
February, 1587, — a day of everlasting infamy to the memory of the
English queen, who had no sensibilities of tenderness, and no sentiments
of generosity, who looked not forward to the awful verdict of history,
and who shuddered not at the infinitely more awful doom of God. I
blush, as an Englishman, to think that this was done by an English
queen, and one whose name I was taught to lisp, in my infancy, as the
honor of her sex and the glory of our isle."

The people of England sided, however, with Elizabeth, from the
moment that a suspicion, as to the intentions of Spain to invade Eng-
land, took root.

On the destruction of the abbeys and monasteries, under Henry the
Eighth, the artisans who had been usually employed in decorating and
repairing them, and the poor who were ever received and fed in their
hospitable halls, now wandered about in large bands. The queen
established martial law about London, and actually chid her agents
and commissioners for their tardiness, in hanging up, without trial,
those whom they might choose to denominate idlers and vagabonds.
The poor were then branded in the flesh with red-hot irons, if found
begging.

Before I present a view of the tyranny practised by this woman in
Ireland, we must have a glance at some more of her acts in England.

Penal laws were introduced into the parliament, which imposed fines
and punishments on all those who refused to acknowledge Queen
Elizabeth the spiritual head of the English church. These laws were
not only directed against the Catholics, but against those dissenters who
went farther than the Protestants of Elizabeth's laws. Among these
were the great body of dissenters of Scotland, who had been influenced
by the preaching of John Knox.

Queen Elizabeth, though having thrown off" the power of Rome, and
established her form of church service, was intolerant enough to look
with great jealousy on the levelling of clerical distinctions in Scotland,
and stickled as firmly for a church establishment of bishops, &c., as
any of her Catholic predecessors. Her persecutions, therefore, were
levelled at those who, she thought, believed too much, as against those
who, she thought, believed too little ; and, to shorten the tale, she
brought in several penal laws, imposing fines on all who did not attend
and practise the form of public service which she had arranged. The
Catholits were the objects of the most bitter persecution ; but they

THE ENGLISH INQUISITION. 639

did not suffer alone ; they suffered the most, however, in retaliation
for the pope's refusing to acknowledge her legitimacy.

Queen Elizabeth established an inquisition, — that is, she appeinted
a commission composed of certain bishops and others, whose power
extended over the whole kingdom, and over all ranks and degrees of
the people. They were empowered to have an absolute control over
the opinions of all men, and to punish all men according to their dis-
cretion. They might proceed legally, if they chose, in the obtaining
of evidence against parties ; but they had power given them to employ
impi-isonment, the rack, or torture of any sort, to effect a conformity in
religious opinion, if their suspicions alighted on any man, no matter
whether it referred to his politics or religion ; and though they had no
evidence, not even hearsay, these commissioners might administer an
oath to him, by which he was bound to reveal his thoughts — to accuse
himself, his friend, his brother, or father, upon pain of death.

These subaltern tyrants inflicted what fines they pleased ; they put
forth whatever new articles of faith they pleased ; they exercised, in the
name of the queen, an absolute control over the bodies, minds, and
properties, of all her subjects. It was a terrible tyranny in its nature,
and terribly did they exercise it.

William Cobbett — who was an Englishman, a Protestant, and who,
in his younger days, had written against the Catholic church — thus
speaks of this tyrannical commission : " When one looks at the deeds
of this tyrant ; when one sees what abject slavery she had reduced the
nation to ; when one views this commission, composed of greedy,
rapacious monsters, let into the full swing of unbridled tyranny over
every man, woman, and ciiild, in the kingdom, — one feels humbled at the
name of England, that tolerated it even a day. It is impossible for us
not to reflect with shame on what we have so long being saying against
the Spanish inquisition, v/hich, from its first establishment to the pres-
ent hour, has not committed so much cruelty as this ferocious tyrant
committed in any one year of the forty-three years she ruled England."

It is hardly necessary to attempt to describe the sufferings that the
Catholics had to endure during this murderous reign. No tongue, no
pen, is adequate to the task. To hear mass, to harbor a priest, to admit
the supremacy of the pope, to deny this woman's spiritual supremacy,
and many other things which an honorable Catholic could scarcely
avoid, consigned him to the scaffold. Not only were men punished for
not confessing that the new religion was the true one, — not only for con-
tinuing to practise the religion in which they had been born and bred, —

640 SUFFERINGS OF THE CATHOLICS.

but were actually punished for not going to the new assemblages, and
there performing what they must, if they were sincere, necessarily deem
an act of apostacy.

No new priest of the Catholic faith was suffered to be made or
educated in England, on pain of death. It was death for a priest to
come into England from abroad ; death to harbor him ; death for him
to perform his functions in her dominions ; death even to confess to him.

Those who refused to go to her churches were fined twenty-five
pounds per month, of the money of those times, which equals two hun-
dred and fifty pounds of the money of the present day.- This was a
fine, or tax, inflicted for the luxury of keeping a conscience, equal to
seventeen thousand dollars a year of American money.

No Catholic, or reputed Catholic, had a moment's security or peace.
At all hours, but generally in the night-time, the agents of the queen
entered his house by breaking it open ; rushed in different directions
into the rooms ; broke open closets, chests, drawers, rummaged beds and
pockets, every where, for crosses, vestments, prayer or mass books, or
any thing appertaining to the Catholic worship, or that could afford
suspicion that a priest frequented the house. As to the poorer portion
of the Catholics, those who were not able to pay these heavy fines,
they were whipped publicly ; they were branded with red-hot irons in
the forehead or ears ; and none durst let them in or harbor them.

At last, the Catholics entertained a hope that, by declaring their
loyalty as subjects to her throne, they might be able to mitigate
the rigor of her oppressive rule. An able and dutiful address was
drawn up ; but the question then came, who would present it. All
trembled at the danger of presenting even an humble petition. At
last, Richard Shelley, of Sussex, undertook the dangerous duty. The
humane answer of this tender woman to the petition was, the imprison-
ment for life of Mr. Shelley.

But this was nothing to other acts resorted to by her, to produce a
change in the opinions of her people. She employed the rack and
torture to extort information. -;- See Cobbett, article Elizabeth.

There were many kinds of torture invented by this cruel woman ;
but her favorite engine was the rack ; which we must examine as pre-
sented to us by the English historian. Dr. Lingard : —

" The RACK was a large, open frame of oak, raised three feet from
the ground. The prisoner was stretched on his back, on the floor,
under this square frame ; his wrists and ankles were attached, by cords,
to two rollers at the ends of the frame ; these were tightened by draw-

CRUELTIES OF ELIZABETH. - 641

ing the cords in opposite directions, by levers, till the body rose from
the floor to a level with the frame. Questions were then put to the un-
fortunate victim ; and, if the answers did not prove satisfactory, the
sufferer was stretched more and more, till the bones started from their
sockets."

Such was the way this "glory of England" changed the religious
opinions of her people ! Such was the reign of Good Queen Bess in
England ! But O, horror of horrors ! what was it in Ireland ? The
Genius of History grieves while she records her diabolical acts, and the
Spirit of Religion shrieks to find that such deeds were perpetrated in her
name.

I may be told that this dangerous ground should be avoided ; that
persons may take offence at ray thus laying bare the acts of one whom
many persons, in their youth, had been taught to look upon as a bold,
chivalrous woman, — a heroine of the English nation. My answer is,
that the histories of England, written within the last three hundred yeai"s,
have been composed of about equal parts of truth and falsehood ; that
Ireland has been blackened by the writers who praised this woman, and
it is necessary to tlie cause of truth to unveil her whom they adore, and
vindicate the nation which they would blacken. This woman perse-
cuted Ireland more than any monarch of England that ever lived. She
planted there, through every acre of its surface, the seeds of religious
and political strife, and turned a fair garden into a great slaughter-yard.
She sent in, amongst the pious and hospitable people of that country, a
swarm of pillagers, pirates, plunderers 1 who butchered young and old,
clergy and laity, male and female; mothers with their infants at their
breasts, — the innocent babes seized and spitted on the points of spears
by her terrible agents.

Let those who approve of the acts of this monster feel dissatisfied
with me. The historian, after all, is the true avenger. Shall I, armed
as I am with the sword of justice, prove a venal, corrupt officer? What
would honest men say of me, were I base enough to pander to power
or to falsehood ? Let those who recoil with horror from association
with the perpetrators of such butcheries and such robberies, join with
us in redeeming Ireland from the state of slavery to which Elizabeth and
her successors have reduced that great and noble country.

Ere I touch upon her treatment of Ireland, let me put on record a

summing up of her character, written by the impartial Wade, her own

countryman, who has brought the history of England down to our time

" Her amiability and morality must be at once given up. She had no

642 ' wade's character of her.

feminine graces. Like her person, her mind, passions, and even accom-
plishments, were masculine. The execution of the unfortunate Scottish
queen, though deemed necessary by her ministers, is an ineftaceable blot
on her mempry. Amongst the legislative and judicial machinery she
used, her absoluteness was ever the guiding principle.

" First was the Court of Star Chamber, [mark that !] whose members
held their places during the pleasure of the crown, and might fine, im-
prison, and punish corporally, by whipping, branding, slitting the nos-
trils and ears. The queen, if present, was sole judge; and the jurisdic-
tion of the court extended to all sorts of offences, contempts, and
disorders, that lay out of the reach of the common law.

" The Court of High Coujmission was a still more arbitrary jurisdic-
tion. Its vengeance was directed against heresy, which was defined as
a difference of opinion on religion and morals ivith the queen.

" Martial law was first introduced by her. In suspicious times, the
jails were full of prisoners, who were thrown into dungeons, loaded with
irons, and frequently tortured to extract confessions. Notunfrequently,
in the agony of their tortures, the unhappy sufferers wrongly accused
others or themselves. Against these enormities the subject had no re-
dress ; neither judge nor jury dared to acquit when the crown ivas bent
on a conviction. The queen, by special warrants, claimed the right to
interfere to stop the course of justice. There are many records of spe-
cial warrants granted by the queen to save malefactors from death ;
these warrants were neitlier to be canvassed, disputed, nor examined."

There is the immortal picture of Elizabeth, drawn by her country-
man. Wade, a living historian.

Talk of English glory, English bravery, English liberty, after that !
Talk and boast of a nation that submitted, for forty-three years, to such
a monster ! I may be told that Ireland, too, submitted to her will.
./ deny it I The Irish opposed their hearts' blood to her terrible edicts ;
they died in the gory field, rather than submit to such tyranny ; they
purified their nation, by rivers of tlieir blood, from the stain of sub-
mitting to such a monster ; they parted with all that was dear to them
in this life, and offered their dead bodies, in the field of battle, as
evidences of their determination not to submit to her tyranny, her
morals, or her laws ; and, after fighting and beating her armies

FOR fifteen years, COMPELLED HER TO SUE FOR PEACE AT LAST.

I am sick of listening to the cant of " British power," " British honor,"
and " British freedom." These terms may pass in the court and pres-
ence of Queen Victoria : but I and my countrymen, and our fathers, have

SHE EXTENDS- THE REFORMATION TO IRELAND. 643

suffered too much by it, to allow that cant to have sway in this free
country, where truth has a dwelling-place, and where justice is enthroned
in the hearts of the people.

The gauze and tinsel that conceal the deformed features of the
British government must be torn away ; her brow must be branded
with the term "perjlcli/;" her government must be denounced abroad,
and subdued at home ; we will array the public opinion of the civil-
ized world against her; and that Ireland, which she persecuted for
centuries, must, at last, be vindicated and disenthralled.

Let us now follow Elizabeth's government into Ireland. She had
directions sent to Lord Sussex to have a parliament of the Little Pale
summoned from ten counties around the metropolis. Previous to this,
the little parliament was composed of no more than members of six
counties. There were thirty-two counties in Ireland ; and previous to
this period, say 1560, the power of the English Pale went not outside
of these six counties ; the rest of the nation was governed by their old
provincial princes, and their old Brehon or Brehave laws. The
religion of the whole people, as well in the Pale as without, was Ro-
man Catholic.

Elizabeth, then, commenced a reformation of the religious opinions
of the people of Ireland ; and her first step was to have the little parlia-
ment of the Pale summoned. On their assembling, several acts were
proposed by her deputy, — one of which required that all her people
should renounce the errors of their former religion, disconnect themselves
from the court of Rome, acknowledge her as spiritual head of the
church, adopt the prayers and religious ceremonies which she had pre-
pared, and, lastly, conform to her system of religious belief and practice.
But the parliament rejected these propositions. Sussex found it neces-
sary to dissolve the parliament. He then repaired to England, to give
the queen, in person, an account of the reception her laws had met with.

In a few years after, she had another parliament, assembled at Dublin,
of men whom she had previously tampered with and moulded to her
wishes. Numbers of Englishmen were sent over, and returned to the
parliament for places they had never set foot in. Sir Edmond Butler,
and many more of the old English settlers, protested against this corrupt
act. Four days were spent in debates, at the very threshold of her new
legislation; the honest portion of the members declared against receiving
any bill, or passing any law, in so illegal an assembly. Great confu-
sion prevailed between the members of this parliament ; and, finally,
Barnwell and Butler — the Grattan and Flood of the day — opposed

644 IRISH CLA>-5.

this party, proDounced it a base faction, and determined to resist its
doings.

But Elizabeth let the storm of their virtuous indignation pass by.
she relied upon the pliancy to be obtained by briber}-, which she ad-
ministered vrith an unsparing hand. Independently of this, she hinted
at the confiscations ■« hich w ere to follow, — the rich prizes she had in
store for those who were willing to pander to her will. Soon the scene
changed ; a majority of the parliament became subservient to her will ;
the whole machinery of tyranny, which she had constructed in Eng-
land, was sent by her into Ireland, and adopted, without discussion,
by this parliament. The church property was ever}* where seized ;
the leading men, who opposed her will, were imprisoned and executed.
A scheme of extermination was commenced : the lands of all the old
Irish chieftains were seized, by acts of this little parliament, and par-
celled out to English adventurers, ere the owners were aware of it.
Chief after chief fell victims to her vengeance, and district after distinct
vcas parcelled out to the swarms of pillagers which now appeared to
pour into Ireland, as if a change had been effected in the very laws of
nature.

A mania for pillage and rapine seized the people of England, which
■R"as fostered by this unprincipled woman. Fleets, armies, myriads of
them flocked over to unfortunate Ireland, to seize on the lands and pos-
sessions of the old inhabitants.

It would take more than all the pages of this book to hold the details
of those butcherly and robberies. In some places subjection was ob-
tained by compromise, in others by treachery, and most generally by
wars of local extermination. For the previous four hundred years the
battles between the Eno-llsh and Irish were senerallv confined to the
English deputy and some five or six thousand men, on one side, and
some distinguished Irish chieftain, at the head of his mountain clan, on
the other. These wars generally terminated favorably to the Irish ; for
the utmost the English could obtain by their battles was an armistice or
compromise of some sort.

The Irish clans, under the name of their respective princes, never
died. It was in vain that the chieftain of the day, when captured by
the English, was beheaded, and bis head placed upon a spike. There
was anon '• another Richmond in the field." These clans were regu-
lated by a singularly republican law. The property of the clan or tribe
was owned almost in common. On the death of any member, all the
property belonging to him was cast into the common lot, and redistrib-

NATURE OF THE IRISH CLANS. TANISTRY. 645

uted amongst bis family. When the chief of the clan died, either in his
bed or on the field, his place was supplied, by election, from the best of
his family. Those chiefs acknowledged obedience to provincial kings,
and these again to the chief monarch of the kingdom. The chiefs,
who were called tanists or thanes, were able soldiers, well calculated, in
bodily strength and courage, to defend their country.

The great evil of their political system was its tendency to create
ambitious rivalry among themselves. Had only the one fourth of the
chiefs of Ireland united against the common enemy, at any period o( the
three hundred and eighty years from the invasion of Henry the Second
to the time of Elizabeth, their country could have been rid of them in a
single campaign. But the very nature of the chieftain's power forbade
this union. Ever bound, by the increasing number of his tribe, to extend
their territory, and by his natural ambition to extend his own sway, his
neighbor clans, east, west, north, and south, were viewed with as much
jealousy by him and his, as the common enemy of their race, the Anglo-
Normans.

This erroneous political and social principle, ever acting at all points
of the kingdom, gave the crafty invader great advantages, and this was
ever the secret source of English domination in Ireland.

The agents of Elizabeth pursued, by her direction, a crafty course.
They did not disclose their objects of general confiscation and extermina-
tion. They engaged in the warfare of the chiefs and clans against each
other. In some places they warred openly, and vanquished and cut down
whole districts, parcelling out the lands of the slain amongst the swarms
of English adventurers who now came into the country. On the
breaking up of the monasteries in England, and the consequent with-
drawal of employment and relief which had been previously afforded to
the people by the industrious and considerate monks, the towns of Eng-
land became thronged with idle, starving people, who gladly enlisted in
any enterprise which promised them a change from their present con-
dition. Already had a scale of booty been laid down and offered to all
those who should volunteer into the queen's army for the conquest of
Ireland. To a footman one hundred and twenty acres, and to a horse-
man two hundred acres, of the lands of Ireland, were proposed to be
given, which were to be held in fee from the queen, or from some of her
favorites, on payment of a penny or twopence per annum, per acre, by
the fortunate soldier.

It does not surprise us to be told that the half of the inhabitants of
England and Scodand were in motion for the pillage and butchery of

646 SWARMS OF ENGLISH ADVENTURERS INVADE IRELAND.

the unfortunate people of Ireland. To heighten the materials of strife,
the sacred name of religion was introduced between the combatants.
The whole system of the penal laws of England, against those who ad-
hered to the Catholic religion, was transferred to Ireland. Those who
refused to conform to the queen's standard of worship were fined so
heavily, that their estates were soon consumed. These estates, whether
owned by persons of English or Irish extraction, were confiscated to the
queen, and given to her new favorites, for distribution among their fol-
lowers.

Religion was only used as a pretence, to seize on all the property of
the nation ; and, more absurdly monstrous, the Irish people really did
not know what the form of faith was which the queen proposed for their
adoption. England had just then changed her religion five times in the
course of thirty years. They were Catholics in 1529 ; immediately
after they became schismatics, and formed a religion, no part of which
they understood ; in Edward's reign, the doctrines of Zwingle prevailed ;
under Mary, the Catholic religion was restored ; and on the accession
of Elizabeth, another was established, composed, with some alterations,
of the tenets of Luther and Calvin, to which was given the name of the
English church. Such was the undefined worship which the Irish were
called upon to adopt, or forfeit liberty, property, and life.

Although it is not my purpose to enter into the detail of the great
contest which now began between Protestant England and Catholic
Ireland, yet a notice of the chief actions of men who nobly struggled, in
that age, for homes and altars, is due to their memories ; and I condense
a few particulars from the voluminous Abbe M'Geoghegan :

THE FIFTEEN YEARS' WAR.

O'Neill's power engrossed much of the attention of the English
government at this time. The queen despatched Knolls to Ireland
to concert measures with the deputy to reduce that nobleman, either
by kindness or by force. She even offered to him the titles of Earl of
Tyrone and Baron of Dungannon. O'Neill received the proposal
with a haughtiness expressive of his contempt for English titles of
honor, which he looked upon as beneath the name of O'Neill. The
commissioners who were intrusted with the negotiation, received from
him the following reply : ' If Elizabeth, your mistress, be queen of
England, I am O'Neill, king of Ulster ; I never made peace with her
without having been previously solicited to it by her. I am not am-
bitious of the abject title of earl ; both my family and birth raise me

♦ BATTLE OF DEURY. DEFEAT OF THE ENGLISH. 647

above it. I will not yield precedence to any one' ; my ancestors have
been kings of Ulster. I have gained that kingdom by my sword, and by
the sword I will preserve it.' He then spoke contemptuously of
M'Carty More, who had just accepted the title of earl.

The English government, finding O'Neill fixed in his determination,
thought necessary to use force against him. For this purpose. Colonel
Randolph was despatched, at the head of seven hundred men, to Derry,
a small town in the northern extremity of Tyrone. They took posses-
sion of the town, and converted the ancient church of St. Columbe
into a magazine for powder and warlike stores ; the priests and monks
being driven out, and other sacrileges committed in the churches.

O'Neill saw plainly that it was against his interest to suffer an enemy
to establish a garrison so near, and always in readiness to attack him.
He marched, therefore, to Derry, without loss of time, with two thousand
five hundred infantry, and three hundred cavalry, and posted himself
within two miles of the town. They soon came to an engagement,
and, during or subsequent to the battle, the powder magazine took fire,
and the town and fort of Derry were blown up, by which nearly seven
hundred Englishmen, and Randolph, their chief, met a miserable end.

Discord still prevailed between O'Neill and O'Donnel. The latter
was supported by the English, whose aim was to weaken O'Neill, as
his power was an obstacle to the reformation, which they wished to
introduce into Ireland, and to the conquest of the country, which was
not yet complete. These two princes fought many battles with unequal
success. O'Neill, at length, having collected all his forces, gained, over
the queen's troops that were sent to assist O'Donnel, the celebrated
victory of the red Sagums, called, in the Irish language, ' Cah na
gassogues DeargsJ In this battle, four hundred English soldiers were
killed, besides several officers who had lately arrived from England.

The great exploits of O'Neill were not sufficient to save him
from ruin. He was brave, and his vassals well disciplined ; but they
fought better in the field than in their attacks on towns, or in defending
them. The English deputy was more frequendy victorious by strata-
gem than by force of arms ; he was in possession of fortifications and
garrisons, from which he made occasional incursions on the lands of
O'Neill, and was artful enough to foment discord between that prince
and his neighbors. He detached Maguire, of Fermanagh, a powerful
nobleman of the country, from his interest, and always supported
O'Donnel against him ; so that O'Neill, finding himself hemmed in on
all sides, and his forces weakened, was reduced to the sad alternative of

648 FALL OF o'nEILL. HIS SUCCESSOR.

seeking safety among his enemies. He had twice defeated the Scotch ;
in the first battle, he had killed their chief, James M'Donnel, and in the
second, Surly Boy M'Donnel, brother of the latter, was taken prisoner.
Still his misfortunes forced him to have recourse to those whom he had
beaten. He restored Surly Boy to his liberty, and set out for Northern
Clanneboy, where the Scotch, to the number of six hundred, were en-
camped, under the command of Alexander M'Donnel, A. D. 1567.
O'Neill appeared with a few attendants in the camp, where he was
received with apparent politeness ; but the Scotch, either through re-
venge for the injuries they had received from him, or hoping to obtain
a considei'able reward from the English government, stabbed him, with
all his followers, and sent his head to the deputy, who exposed it upon
a pole on the castle of Dublin.

An account of the expenses of this war against O'Neill was sent to
the queen ; according to which it amounted to one hundred and forty-
seven thousand four hundred and seven pounds sterhng, besides the
taxes raised on the country. Her majesty also lost about three
thousand five hundred men of her own troops, who were killed by the
Ulster prince and his allies, with several of the L-ish and Scotch, who
had taken up arms against him.

Turlough Lynogh O'Neill, who had been acknowledged chief of
that illustrious name, continued to support the cause of his country.
The noblemen of Ulster and Scodand made frequent alliances, about
that time. O'Neill married the Earl of Argyle's aunt, and kept Scotch
troops in his pay. This prince was planning an expedition against the
English province, but was prevented from carrying it into execution.
His life being endangered by a musket-shot he received either by acci-
dent or by design, the Scotch began to desert him, and the tribe was
about to appoint another chief. Having, however, recovered, while pre-
paring to accomplish his first project against the English, the deputy
despatched two commissioners, Judge Dovvdal and the Dean of Armagh,
on the part of the queen, to his camp at Dungannon ; and a treaty was
entered into between them in January, which was ratified by the deputy
in the month of March following.

Thomas Smith, an Englishinavi, and counsellor to the queen, finding
that his countrymen were making rapid fortunes in Ireland, at the ex-
pense of the old inhabitants, and wishing to have a share in the spoils,
asked permission from his royal mistress to send over his son to found,
an English colony at Ardes, in Ulster. The queen having given her
consent, young Smith was equipped for the enterprise. One Chatter-

COSBy's massacres. AID FROM THE POPE. 649

ton being appointed his governor, with a suitable retinue, they sailed
for- Ireland; but, on approaching the place of his destination, unfortu-
nately for Smith, he met Brien M'Art O'Neill, to whom Ardes be-
longed, ready to receive him. The pretended Lord of Ardes was
killed in a skirmish, and his troops dispersed by Brien M'Art.

Francis Cosby, being appointed governor of Leix, ruled that coun-
try as a true tyrant. His son Alexander equalled him in cruelty, and
wreaked his vengeance on inoffensive Catholics for the hard treatment
he had received from O'Morra, [O'Moore.] Having convened a meet-
ing of the principal inhabitants in the castle of Moliach, under pre-
tence of the public welfare, he had them all murdered by assassins
posted there for the purpose, violating thereby all honor and public
faith. One hundred and eighty men of the family of O'jMorra. with
many others, were put to death upon this occasion. This cruel and
bloody tyrant took such delight in putting Catholics to the torture, that
he hanged men, women, and children, by dozens, from an elm-tree that
grew before his door, at Stradbally, where he resided. He subsequently
lost his life at the battle of Glendaloch.

Fitzmaurice, one of the southern chieftains, made his way to Rome,
to solicit money and military assistance from the pope, for the protection
of the Catholics. His holiness advanced him a considerable sum, and
raised two thousand volunteers, who were to assemble in Portugal.
About the half of this force did assemble under Stukely, a foreigner, at
Lisbon ; but, on his arrival, this treacherous leader, with his whole force,
joined the king of Portugal, in his M^ars on Africa. When Fitzmaurice
arrived with the remainder of the force, amounting to seven or eight
hundred, great was his mortification to find what had occurred. How-
ever, he embarked his litde army in- six small vessels, and arrived safe,
bringing arms for four thousand men, with suitable ammunition. He
got into the harbor of Smerwick, in the county of Kerry, in July,
1579. Here he threw up some fortifications,* and called around him
the neighboring chiefs. They soon drove the English out of Tralee,
put their chiefs to the sword, and then prepared to march tov/ards
Connaught.

Previous to the march of the grand army, Fitzmaurice, with a
few men, went into the friendly parts of Connaught, with the view of
conciliating the chiefs ; but, on his way, he was attacked by Theobald
Burke, of Castle Connel, who, from a desire to please Elizabeth, sacri-
ficed religion and country. Finding it impossible to avoid an engage-
ment, Fitzmaurice resolved to conquer or die. Being wounded in the
82

650 SUCCESS OF DESMOND AGAINST THE QUEEN.

breast by a musket-ball, and roused to a last effort, he cleared a passage
through the enemy, and cut off the head of Burke with a single blow.
The brothers of that captain fell also, and their entire force was routed.
The victory, however, proved a dear one to Fitzmaurice. His wound
being mortal, he died in six hours after the action.

Sir John Desmond took the command of the Catholic army, accord-
ing to the will of Fitzmaurice ; and now the English deputy penetrated
into Munster, in order to extinguish the rebellion. Sir John Desmond
posted himself near a forest called Blackwood ; whither the English
deputy sent a strong detachment, under Captains Herbert and Price,
with orders to force his camp. On the appearance of the English, both
armies drew up in order of battle ; the first shock was favorable to the
English, but they were afterwards cut to pieces by a body of men
whicli Desmond had concealed in the wood, and which, attacking them
in flank, soon destroyed them. A great number was killed, and
amongst them Herbert and Price.

The loss of this battle caused great affliction to the English deputy,
but he was relieved by the arrival of six hundred English, under Captains
Bourcheir, Carew, and Dowdal, sent by the queen to Waterford, to
reenforce the army. Sir John Perrot arrived in Cork, with six vessels,
to protect the coast. Being joined by this reenforcement, the deputy
went on another equally unsuccessful expedition to Counello. Having
fallen sick from excess of fatigue, he sent for Malby, the governor of
Connaught, to command the troops, and withdrew to Waterford.

Various now were the successes and reverses of the brave Desmond.
During all these changes, the English army was continually increasing,
whilst the gold and promises of Elizabeth were daily winning off
the supporters of her brave opponent. Every mean act of treachery
towards Desmond, committed by any of his degraded countrymen, was
rewarded with magnificent grants of land and titles. Those of his fol-
lowers, who were caught, obtained no quarter from the English. It was
death to correspond with him.

In the mean time a new deputy, named Greij, was sent to Ireland,
who, like most of the English deputies on their first arrival, set out
through the country with a view to whip it into subjection by a few
shots. This braggadocio marched to the Wicklow Mountains, where
the Irish, under the chieftain O'Byrne, were posted. Grey collected for
this expedition all the troops of Leinster; but at the memorable wood of
Glendaloch he was, after a long and obstinate battle, defeated by the

SURRENDER OF THE SPANISH GARRISON. 651

Irish. A dreadful carnage was made of the Enghsh troops, and the
deputy and his staff flew for safety to DubHn. At this battle, Cosby,
who took such delight in hanging Catholics, fell an unmourned victim of
his own cruelty.

The deputy now collected the remnant of his forces, and, with the
supplies from England, proceeded to the south, where the Spaniards,
under Desmond, were still unconquered. He laid siege, by sea and
land, to the garrison of Smerwick, which bravely held out several
weeks. At length, a flag of truce was sent to the garrison. Deputies
were appointed to treat. Some confusion occurred between the inter-
preters and the Spanish commander. Large terms were offered to the
garrison-, who. being many days without provisions, clamored for a
capitulation : it was at length accepted, and as soon as these poor
fellows, numbering six hundred, laid down their arms, they were in-
stantly butchered by their honorable enemy. It is from this event
that Jldes Greia, or ' the faith of Grey,' became a phrase expressive
of perfidy.

John Desmond, brother of the hero Desmond, was shortly after,
when nearly alone, waylaid by the English, while about to cross the
River Blackwater. He was wounded in the heroic conflict with his
captors, and died on his way to Cork, whither they carried his body,
having sent his head to Dublin, where it was placed on the castle ; and
his body was tied to a gibbet, at the gates of Cork, where it remained
three years, till it was carried into the sea by the wind.

We have now come to the last year of the life of Desmond, A. D.
1583. Finding himself unassisted by the Spaniards, and deserted by
his adherents, he became a fugitive through the country. On arriving
in the county of Kerry, with a few followers, he took refuge in a
small house in the middle of a wood, called Gleam-a-Ginkie, four
miles from Tralee, where he was subsisted by whatever GofFred
M'Sweeny, who was faithfully attached to him, could procure by
hunting. Being surprised at length by his enemies, his head was cut
off, and sent to Cork, whence it was brought soon after to England,
fastened on a pole, and exposed to public view on the bridge of
London.

Thus perished the hopes of Ireland in the south ; for the smaller
chieftains now fell an easy prey before the accumulated troops from
England.

Persecution, which had somewhat abated during the war, began
anew with increased severity after the death of the Earl of Desmond

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DREADFUL PERSECUTIONS. 653

had his plan for the pacification of Ireland. It was no other than that
of creating famine and insuring pestilence ! And he encouraged the
repetition of these diabolical means by his own evidence of their efficacy.
He recommended, indeed, that twenty days should be given to the Irish
to come in and submit, after the expiration of which time they were to
be shown no mercy. But let me quote his own words : ' The end
will (I assure mee) bee very short, and much sooner than it can be in
so greate a trouble as it seemeth hoped for ; altho there should none of
them fall by the sword, nor be slaine by the soldiour, yet, thus being
kept from manurance, and their catde from running abroad, by hard
restraint, they would quietly consume themselves, and devour
ONE another.' — Spenser^ s Ireland, p. 165.

" These counsels of Spenser were carried into effect. Take the fol-
lowing specimens from Hollinshead's description of the progress of the
English army in the south, during the contest with Desmond, who was,
in fact, forced into rebellion : ' As they went, they drove the whole
country before them into the Ventrie, and by that means they preyed
and took all the cattle in the country, to the number of eight thousand
kine, besides horses, garrons, sheep, and goats ; and all such people as
met, they did tmthout mercy put to the sword. By these means, the
whole country having no catUe nor kine left, they were driven to such
extremities that, for want of victuals, they were either to die and perish
for famine, or to die under the sword.' — Hollinshcad, VI. 427.

" ' The soldiers likewise, in the camp, were so hot upon the spur, and
so eager upon the vile rebels, that day, they spared neither man,
woman, nor child, but all was committed to the sword.' — Hollins-
head, VI. 430.

" I give the next quotation to show how trivial it was considered to
slaughter four hundred unarmed people in a single day — it was thought
an insufficient day's service : ' The next daie following, being the
twelfe of March, the lord justice and the earle divided dieir armie into
two several companies, by two ensigns and three together, the lord jus-
tice taking the one side of Sleughlogher ; and so they searched, the woods,
burned the town, and Icilled that daie about foure hundred men, and
returned that night ivith all the cattle which they found that day.
And the said lords being not satisfied with his dale's service, they did
likewise the next daie divide themselves, spoiled and consumed the
whole countrie until it was night.' — Hollinshcad, VI. 430.

"This is but a specimen of the mode in which the war was carried on,
I give a few more instances, and I could multiply them by hundreds •

654 DREADFUL PERSECtTTIONS.

' He divided his companies into foure parts, and they entered into foure
severall places of the wood at one instant, and by that means they
scoured the wood throughout, in MUing as manie as they tooJce, but the
residue fled into the mountains.' — HoUinshead, VI. 452.

" ' Tliere were some of the Irish taken prisoners that offered great
ransomes, but presently, upon their bringing to the campe, they were
hanged.'' — Pacata Hibernia, 421.

" Here are some specimens of the way in which they were working out
Spenser's plan : ' By reason of the continuall persecuting of the
rebells, who could have no breath nor rest to relieve themselves, but
were alwaies by one garrison or other hurt and pursued ; and by reason
the harvest was taken from them, their cattells, in great numbers, preied
from then), and the whole countrie spoiled and preied, the poor people,
who lived only on their labors, and fed by their milch cowes, were so
distressed, that they would follow after their goods which were taken
from them, and offer themselves, their wives, and. children, rather to be
slaine by the armie, than to suffer the famine wherewith they were now
pinched.' — HoUinshead, VI. 433.

" Again, take the following from Sir George Carew : ' The presi-
dent having received certaine information, that the Munster fugitives
were harboured in those parts, having before burnt all the houses and
come, and taken great preyes, Owny, Onubrian, and Kilquig, a strong
and fast country, not farre from Limerick, diverted his forces. East
Clanwilliam and Muskery Guirke, where Pierce Lacy had lately be-
come succoured ; and, harrassing the country, killed all mankind
THAT WERE FOUND THEREIN, for a terrour to those who should give
releefe to runagate traitors. Thence, wee came into Arleaghe Woods,
where wee did the like, Tjo^ leaving behind us man or beast, corn or
cattle, except such as had been conveyed into castles.' It was

THOUGHT NO ILL POLICY TO MAKE THE IRISH DRAW BLOOD UPON
ONE ANOTHER, WHEREBY THEIR PRIVATE QUARRELS MlfiHT ADVANCE

THE PUBLIC INTEREST. — Pttcata Hibemia, 189." — O'Connell's
Memoir, p. 86, Casserly's edition.

I cannot intrude upon limited space the many similar speci-
mens which are to be found in O'Connell's Memoir.

" O'Hurle, archbishop of Cashel, falling into the hands of Sir William
Drury, in the year 1579, was first tortured by his legs being immersed
in jack-boots filled with quick lime, water, &c., until they were burnt
to the bone, in order to force him to, take the oath of supremacy ; and
he was then, with other circumstances of barbarity, executed on the

gallows. As this martyr was dying, he told his persecutor, Drury,
that he should meet him before the tribunal of Christ within ten days ;
and it came to pass that Drury died within that time, suffering the
most excruciating pains. According to Bourke's Hibemia Dominicina,

IT WAS A USUAL THING TO BEAT WITH STONES THE SHORN HEADS
OF THEIR CLERGY TILL THEIR BRAINS GUSHED OUT ; many Were

Stretched upon the rack or pressed under weights; others had their
bowels torn open, which they were obliged to support with, their
hands." — Milner's Letters.

Queen Elizabeth, in her instructions to Carew, 1598, on his going
over to carry her exterminating schemes into operation, authorized her
officers to " put suspected Irish to the rack, and to torture them when
they should find it convenient."

Numberless instances occur where the English soldiers fell in with
sick and wounded men on the Irish side, attended by their wives, sisters,
or mothers, every one of whom, including women and children, were
put to death! The southern province became totally depopulated,
except within the cities, exhibiting a hideous scene of fan)ine and
desolation. In some parts of Munster, after Desmond's death, after
the entire suppression of his revolt, great companies of Irishmen, with
their women and children, were often forced into castles and other
houses, which were then set on fire, and, if any of them attempted to
escape from the flames, they were shot or stabbed by the soldiers who
guarded them. It was a diversion to these inhuman monsters to take
up infants on the point of their spears, and whirl them about in their
agony, apologizing for their cruelty by saying, that, if they suffered
them to live to grow up, they would become Popish rebels ; many of
their tvomen ivere found hanging on trees, with their children at their
breasts, strangled with the mothers' hair ! And Hollinshead proceeds
in the horrible detail to show that the unfortunate people were so re-
duced by starvation, that they took up dead bodies out of the graves,
and ate of them ; and, lastly, di9 kill and devour one another, as dis-
tressed and starving mariners have been known to do at sea ; and in the
entire country, from Smerwicke, in the south, to Waterford, a distance
of one hundred and twenty miles, not a human being or beast v*'as to
be met with, nor yet a blade of corn, or other fruit of the earth !

Confiscation now commenced on a grand ^cale. The estates of
Desmond, and all the others lately found in opposition to the invaders,
were parcelled out. Circulars were sent into England, to all the
nobility, inviting their youngest sons to come and settle in Ireland,

656 HUGH o'nEILL. SPANISH ARMADA.

on certain conditions, one of which was, that they should hold these
lands from the crown, at threepence per acre, in the counties of
Limerick, Connelloe, and Kerry, and twopence per acre in the
counties of Cork and Waterford ; and that no Irishman should be
suffered to reside on them.

The south having been pretty generally subdued, and an expedition
of two thousand Scotchmen, who came to aid the Irish, having been
secretly intercepted and destroyed, Elizabeth now turned her attention
to the north of Ireland, which had been purposely left unmolested by
the crafty queen, until the subjection of the south could be established.
She loaded the great Hugh O'Neill with honors, invited him to court,
and begged him to accept the title of Tyrone, which was despised and
refused by his father, and which he affected to accept with a deep sense
of the honor. But O'Neill was a wise and an able man ; he had been
of the illustrious house of the Hy Nialls, who were monarchs of Ire-
land on St. Patrick's arrival, and who continued its chief monarchs
till the eleventh century, when the succession was broken up by
the Munster house, in the person of Brien Boroimhe. O'Neill in-
curred the queen's displeasure by harboring some of the scattered
Spanish armada. And here may be a proper place to insert a short
account of that celebrated attempt to relieve the Catholics of both
England and Ireland.

Philip, king of Spain, finding negotiations unavailing, turned his
thoughts to war, and determined to make a descent upon England.
For this purpose, he equipped the most formidable fleet that had been
ever known, from whence it was called the invincible armada. This fleet
consisted of one hundred and thirty vessels, of various sizes, having on
board nineteen thousand two hundred and ninety troops, eight thousand
and fifty sailors,, two thousand and eighty .men from the galleys, and
two thousand six hundred and thirty pieces of cannon. The Prince of
Parma, governor of the Low Countries, received orders to hold himself
in readiness, with the fifty thousand men he commanded, and to have
boats of a crooked form, and deep in the centre, (each of which was to
contain thirty horses,) constructed. With these boats, he intended to
convey his army to the mouth of the Thames, at the time of the in-
tended arrival of the fleet from Spain.

On the other hand, all the measures necessary to oppose the designs
of the Spaniards were adopted by the queen of England. Admiral
Lord Charles Howard, and Vice-Admiral Sir Francis Drake, had orders
to repair on board the fleet at Plymouth. Lord Henry Seymour, at

THE SPANISH ARMADA. o'rUAKK. 657

the bead of forty English and Dutch ships, was appointed to guard the
coasts of the Low Countries, to prevent the Prince of Parma from sail-
ing. The land forces were stationed along the southern coast, under
the command of the Earl of Leicester, who established his bead-quar-
ters at Tilbury, near the mouth of the Thames. The ports on every
side were fortified and strongly garrisoned.

Matters being thus prepared on both sides, the Spanish fleet, com-
manded by the Duke of Medina, and Jean Martin Recalde, vice-admiral,
sailed from the Tagus on the 20th May. Soon after sailing, the fleet
was dispersed in a violent gale. Having, however, collected the vessels
again with difficulty, they appeared, in July, on the coast of England.
The English fleet, stationed at Plymouth, set sail immediately, and, in
the course of six days, three battles were fought with unequal success.
The Spaniards, hoping to receive assistance from the Prince of Parma,
cast anchor opposite Calais. The Spanish admiral despatched a
courier to the prince, with orders to join the fleet with his troops, and,
in the mean time, to send him some cannon balls, of which he was in
extreme need. This the prince could not accomplish.

The expedition was fatal to the Spaniards, but the English, accord-
ing to their national characteristic, boast too highly of their success.
The Spanish fleet was, in the beginning, shattered by a violent storm,
and, on the coast of Britain, it was disappointed of the succors that
were expected from the Low Countries, with which hope the expedition
had been principally undertaken. In their battles with the English, the
Spaniards were in want of ammunition ; their fleet, too, consisted of
large ships, hard to be managed, without frigates or small vessels, so
necessary in an engagement. The advantage was entirely in favor of
the English.

All hopes of succeeding on the shores of England being destroyed,
the Spanish admiral sailed for Spain, through the Orkneys. When
coasting round the north of Ireland, his fleet was v^recked, whereby he
lost more men and ships than in his battles with the English. The
disappointment evinced by PhiHp, when informed of this circumstance,
and of the defeat of his fleet, was mildly expressed in these words :
" I sent them to fight against men, not with the elements."

The gallant O'Ruark, of Breffiiy, for having treated some of those

Spaniards hospitably, and for refusing to give them up to the English

governor, was brought to England, condemned by the council, and

beheaded. Scandal has whispered that the queen, falling in love with

658 DUBLIN UNIVERSITY.

his fine person, kept him in her palace for some time, ere, like other
of her favorites, she sent him to the block.

Elizabeth, about this time, revived the Dublin University. In a
debate, which took place in the month of July, 1844, in the British parlia-
ment, Mr. Wyse, the member for Waterford, gave the following account
of this university, which was uncontradicted by any member : —

" It was said, indeed, that the Dublin University was necessarily a
Protestant university. It was generally supposed to have been founded
by Elizabeth, but that was merely a revival. A university was founded
at an early period, in 1312, by John Elyard, bishop of Dublin, who
obtained a bull from the pope, to confirm the foundation. It was after-
wards richly endowed by several persons. In 1475, the university was
revived in the capital, and a fresh bull issued to renew the foundation,
owing to the exertions of the Dominican friars. This university was
long supported by those who resorted there. But in Elizabeth's time,
the establishment was for the education of youth, without any inter-
ference with their religion. From the commons' journals of Ireland, it _
appeared that continual interference was made with the establishment ;
and the preservation of its library was, ultimately, entirely ow ing to the
exertions of a Catholic missionary. Catholics were at length excluded
in 1703, not from education there, certainly, but from the fellowships ;
and so it had continued down to the present time. No doubt, as re-
garded the professorships, a few were filled by Catholics. One of those
was the professorship of foreign languages. Now, what were the funds
of this college ? He could not speak positively, but he understood the
landed pro[)erty, belonging to the university, to be not less than two
hundred and thirty-one thousand acres in extent."

CDonnel, and two other northern princes, who had been in close
confinement, in Dublin Castle, for seven years, found means to escape.*
O'Donnel, who was next in rank to O'Neill, now raised the standard
of revolt against England. Assisted by Maguire, the Lord of Fer-
managh, they raised a resolute force, with which they attacked the
English, and all those who aided them, in every direction : for a while
their success was astonishing, extending into Connaught, and through
other parts of the country, and alarming very seriously the queen's deputy.

The Earl of Kildare, and O'Byrne, of Wicklow, raised the standard
of revolt in Leinster, which they overran ; but, having received advan-
tageous terms of peace from the queen, they relapsed again into inactivity.
O'Donnell and Maguire made a gallant stand against a large force of the
English invaders, on the banks of the River Farna, near Inniskillsn.
• They got out through the sewer which led from the tower to tlie River Poddle.

THE WAR IN THE NORTH AND IN CONNAUGHT. 659

Both armies passed the night in firing on each other. At break of day,
the English general, having discovered a ford, made his army cross the
river, and marched towards the enemy in battle array. The battle
began at eleven in the morning, and lasted till night, with great slaugh-
ter on both sides ; but the English were at length completely routed, by
the superior skill of tbe Irish generals, and the bravery of the soldiers
under their command. Those who escaped the carnage endeavored to
repass the river ; but, being pursued by the Irish, several were drowned
in the endeavor to escape. According even to Camden, the loss of the
English was immense ; which avowal, from Englishmen, is worthy of
remark. The place where the battle was fought was called Vadum Bis-
coctorum Panum, or the Ford of Biscuits ; the confusion of the English
being so great, that they were obliged to throw the biscuit which had
been intended for the garrison of Inniskillen into the river. This gar-
rison, having now lost all hopes of succor, from the defeat of their
countrymen, opened the gates to O'Donnel, who restored it to
Maguire, to whom it belonged.

After the reduction of Inniskillen, O'Donnel tflarched to Connaught,
to revenge the tyranny which had been practised in that province by
Bingham, the governor. He carried terror wherever he passed, putting
every English Protestant, from the age of fifteen to sixty, who could not
speak Irish, to the sword. O'Donnel afterwards entered Annaly, and
burned the district of Longford, which belonged to the O'Ferrals. It
had been usurped by an English Protestant, named Brown ; so that
the English in Connaught, who escaped the sword of the conqueror,
being deprived of all they had amassed, except those who were under
the protection of the garrisons and fortresses, were obliged to return to
England, highly indignant with those who had induced them to seek
their fortunes in Ireland.

Theobald Burke, a powerful lord of Connaught, of the house of
M'William, was deprived, about this time, by the JEnglish, of the estates
of his ancestors, and confined in a dungeon at Athlone. Being rescued
from his captivity, he had recourse to O'Donnel, who gave him a body
of men, to assist him in recovering his patrimony. Burke thereon re-
turned to his province, laid siege to Bealike, one of his fortresses, which
was in possession of the English, and defeated George Bingham and
other chiefs, who were advancing, at the head of an English army, to
the relief of the besieged.

Such was the state of affairs in Ulster. War was raging between the
principal nobles of the province and the English force. Disturbances
also began to break out in the provinces of Leinster and Connaught.

660 THE GREAT HUGH o'nEILL.

Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, had acted his part ably. He had
spent seven years in organizing his forces, and in providing provisions,
and all sorts of warlike stores. He always appeared to act in the
queen's interests : still the English distrusted him, while the Irish blamed
his inactivity. During his occasional sojourns in England, he made
himself master of their tactics, which he combined with those of Ireland,
and was thus enabled to discipline the germ of the best military force
that ever appeared in Ireland. In order to avoid giving the English
any alarm, it was his practice to disband his men as soon as they became
'perfectly disciplined, and to call around him a new set from the felds,
who were, in turn, disbanded, to make ivay for other sets in like suc-
cession, whom it was his delight and amusement to instruct. In this
way, he formed a peasant army of about five or six thousand men, who
gave to other parts of Ireland, during the war, a race of commanders
which all the power of England, as will be seen in the following pages,
could not subdue.

He only waited a favorable moment to avow himself; and this year
(A. D. 1595) he renounced the title of earl, assumed the O^Neill,
removed the mask, and declared against the queen. He was afterwards
nominated commander-in-chief of the Irish league, which consisted of
several branches of the O'Neills, Maguires, M'Mahons, Magennises,
M'Donnels, O'Cahans, O'Flannagans, and many other powerful nobles
of the province, with their vassals. O'Donnel, on his side, commanded
the Tyrconnel troops. These princes sometimes acted separately,
but always for the good of the common cause, which was that
of their religion and their country. This was the most powerful
opposition which the Lish had yet made since the first English
invasion.

The frequent victories which the Catholics of Ireland gained over the
English alarmed the court of England. The queen was so afflicted by
these disasters, that she determined to put an end to them by subduing
the Catholics. For this purpose, she sent for the old troops who were
serving in the Netherlands against Philip II., and despatched three
thousand of them over to Ireland, under the orders of Sir John Nonis,
with the title of captain-general. This diversion was highly favorable
to Spain.

Norris, having landed with his forces in Ireland, was joined by the
deputy, and the troops under his command, in all amounting to about
ten thousand men. The deputy requested that Baskervile should have

NEW INVASION. NEGOTIATIONS. 661

the command of this reenforcement ; but the court thought proper to
confer it on Norris, as being more experienced. He had aheady served
in Ireland, as governor of Munster ; and, having afterwards commanded
the English army, in Brittany and the Low Countries, against the king
of Spain, he was considered to be the ablest captain in England, and
capable of opposing Tyrone. He was so fully persuaded of this him-
self, that, in taking leave of the queen, he said he would reduce O'Neill
to obey her majesty, or force him to leave Ireland. He did not, hoiv-
ever, accomplish his promise.

O'Neill, having heard that Norris was marching towards Ulster, col-
lected his forces, and began hostilities, by taking a fort called Portmor,
on the Blackwater, near the district of Tyrone, where there was an
English garrison, the fortifications of which he destroyed. He dien
marched to lay siege to Monaghan. In the mean time, in order to vin-
dicate his conduct, O'Neill wrote letters, in the form of manifestoes, to
the Earl of Ormond, Wallop, and Russel the deputy, declaring to them
that it was not his wish to make war, but to live in peace with the queen,
provided he and his followers were allowed to profess the religion of
their ancestors, on which condition he was ready to lay down his arms.
He wrote in the same terms to the queen and Captain Norris ; but the
two last letters were intercepted and suppressed by Marshal Bagnal,
who, though O'Neill's brother-in-law, was his avowed enemy. How-
ever, instead of receiving favorable answers to his letters, he was pro-
claimed a rebel and a traitor to his country, with O'Donnel, O'Rourke,
Maguire, and M'Mahon.

The English government, after some little time, was still desirous of
treating with O'Neill and the other Catholic confederates ; for which
purpose they agreed upon a truce of two months, from the 27th
of October till the beginning of January. In the mean time, the
Castle of Monaghan surrendered to the besiegers, commanded by
Conn, (son of O'Neill,) O'Donnel, and M'Mahon. The truce
ended on the 1st of January. On the 8th, the government sent
a commission to Sir Robert Gardiner and Sir Henry Wallop, with full
power to conclude a treaty with the Catholics of Ulster. The com-
missioners repaired to Dundalk ; but the Irish, through distrust of the
English, refused to meet them, so that they were obliged to hold the
conference in a plain, in presence of the two armies. The Catholics
demanded three things to be granted — first, a general liberty of con-
science ; second, a full pardon for the past ; and lastly, the entire
removal of the English garrisons, their sheriffs, and other officers of

662 HOSTILITIES COMMENCED.

justice, from the province, except the towns of Newry and Carrickfergus.
The English commissioners not approving of these articles, the confer-
ence ended without coming to any decision, except that of renewing the
truce till the 1st of April,

At the expiration of this, Russel, the deputy, and General Norris,
led their army to Dundalk. The jealousy between these two noblemen
about the command, was the cause of much disunion. The deputy left
Dundalk, with his army, to possess himself of Armagh ; but O'Neill,
accompanied by Maguire, O'Cahan, the O'Hanlons, and other nobles, and
their men, met him on his march. The action began at Killcluona,
with great fury on both sides ; but the English were forced to retreat to
Newry, leaving six hundred men dead on the field of battle. O'Neill's
loss did not exceed two hundred men.

The ill success of the" deputy, in Ulster, made him quit the province,
and return to Dublin. He gave up his command of the troops to
Norris. The Catholics of Leinster were in arms ; Fiach, son of Hugh,
chief of the O'Byrnes, of Wicklow, and Donald Spaniagh, or the
Spaniard, chief of the Cavenaghs, having united their forces, ravaged
the whole country, from Dublin to Wexford. The O'Connors acted in
the same manner in OfFaly. Connaught was disturbed, and the in-
habitants, being joined by a body of Scotch, carried terror wherever
they marched. The deputy led his army to this province, and be-
sieged Losmage Castle, belonging to O'Madden. He summoned the
garrison to surrender, but was answered by the besieged, that, were his
army composed of deputies, they would hold out to the last. However,
as it was not fortified, he made himself master of it, the besieged having
lost about forty-six men.

The deputy left the affairs of Ulster to Norris, who marched towards
Monaghan, in which there had been a garrison, since it was abandoned
by the Irish. O'Neill, on receiving intelligence of the march of Norris,
intercepted him at Cluoin Tiburuid, in a plain at a short distance from
Monaghan. Both armies were divided by a rivulet. The English
general endeavored to force his passage, but was twice repulsed by the
Irish fusileers ; he had a horse killed under him, and he, with his
brother, Thomas Norris, was wounded ; after which the action of an
individual decided the victory. An officer, called Segrave, belonging to
the army of Norris, and a native of the county of Meath, led on a de-
tachment of cavalry to attack the quarter where O'Neill fought. In the
midst of the engagement, Segrave forced his way to the chief, and en-
gaged him in single combat. The two heroes, having broken two

INVADERS OFFEIl TERMS OF PEACE TO o'nEILL. 663

lances each, fell. At this moment, O'Neill, attacking his adversary with
his sword, slew him, and, by his success, completed the defeat of the
English, who left seven hundred men dead upon the field of baiile.
The loss of the Irish was inconsiderable. The day following, Norris,
wishing to return to the charge, was repulsed with some loss at Bealach-
Finnuis. Monaghan surrendered to the Irish, and the garrison marched
out with the honors of war.

Whilst O'Neill was supporting the cause of his country so gloriously
in Ulster, O'Donnel marched to the relief of the Irish in Con-
naught. Young George Bingham occupied the Castle of Sligo, at that
time, with a garrison of two hundred men, both English and Irish. The
Irish belonging to the garrison attacked the English, slew Bingham, and
gave up the castle to O'Donnel, who appointed Burke to the govern-
ment of it. About the same time, the castle of Ballimot, in the same
county, (Sligo,) was torn from the elder Bingham by Tumultach and
Cahal M'Donagh, to whom it belonged. After the taking of these two
places, the affairs of the English in Connaught were in a very un-
promising state. The army of O'Donnel kept them in check.

As the queen and her council were particularly desirous of making
peace with O'Neill, commissioners were frequently appointed to propose
terms to him. General Norris and Geoftroy Fenton, secretary of
state, were appointed to make overtures in 1596. They repaired to
Dundalk, where they had an interview with O'Neill. He had not con-
fidence enough in the English to treat with them ; besides, the principal
condition he required was a freedom of religion, so that this conference
was not more successful than the preceding ones. Sir Edward Moor
was soon afterwards intrusted to carry the queen's pardon to O'Neill,
which he peremptorily refused.

Three small vessels, laden with powder, arrived about ttiis time from
Spain, for O'Donnel. They brought two hundred men also, and
promises of more efficient aid. O'Neill wrote letters on the common
cause to Fiach, chief of the O'Byrnes, and other noblemen of Leinster,
his allies, to which he received favorable answers. He kept up a cor-
respondence also with the best disposed characters in Munster, by means
of the clan Shyhyes, whom he sent thither for that purpose, with confi-
dential letters from himself.

His letters to many of the lords of Leinster had the desired effect.
Fiach O'Byrne renewed hostilities, by taking the fort of BalH-ne-cor,
the fortifications of which he destroyed. The O'Morras, O'Connors,
O'TooleSj Cavenaghs, and Butlers, took up arms likewise, and demanded

6B4 • BATTLE OF ARMAGH.

the restoration of their confiscated estates. The deputy marched
against O'Byrne ; the Butlers were pursued by the Earl of Ormond,
who, after renouncing his religion, persecuted his relatives ; the O'Mor-
ras and O'Connors were exposed to the attacks of Sir Anthony St*
Leger. Connaught was in as great a ferment as Leinster ; Richard
Bingham, governor of that province, having taken up arms against the
Burkes and O'Rourkes.

The king of Spain was aware that Elizabeth had made frequent
proposals of peace to O'Neill, O'Donnel, and the other Irish lords.
His Catholic majesty sent an agent to encourage these princes to perse-
vere, and to renew the promises he had already made to them. In the
mean time, the English took Armagh by surprise, and placed a garrison
in it. O'Neill beheld, with sorrow, this holy city, that was founded by
St. Patrick, profaned by the invaders, to whom nothing was sacred.
The garrison was strong, and protected by the army, which was en-
camped near it, under General Norris. O'Neill, not deeming it prudent
to undertake a siege, brought Norris to an engagement near the church
of Killoter. The English, being confident in their strength, were eager
to engage, but were vigorously repulsed and put to flight by O'Neill's
forces, who pursued them as far as Armagh, and killed several of their
men. After this, Norris left five hundred troops in the garrison, under
the command of Francis Stafford, and withdrew, with the remainder of
his army, towards Dundalk. O'Neill, being master of the field, was
enabled to intercept the provisions that were intended for Armagh, so
that famine was the consequence. This was succeeded by a plague,
which carried off their men in great numbers. The English of Dun-
dalk, hearing of the sad condition of their garrison in Armagh, sent a
supply of provisions, under an escort of three companies of infantry
and a troop of horse. O'Neill surprised the convoy, and put the troops
that were guarding it to the sword. His penetrating mind guided him
in turning every thing to advantage. He now bethought of a stratagem
in which he was most successful ; he got some of his men, both foot
and horse, to assume the uniform of the English who were killed, and
ordered them to retreat with English banners towards a ruined monastery
that was within a gun-shot of Armagh. The prince pursued these supposed
English, with the rest of his troops, within view of the garrison ; both
parties began a discharge of their musketry, loaded only with powder ;
whereupon the men, as instructed, fell on every side, without sustaining
any injury. This sham battle soon drew the attention of the garrison
of Armagh ; Stafford, the commander, gave orders that half of the gar-

DEFEAT OF THE INVADERS. G65

rison should take up arms, and advance rapidly to the field of battle, to
the relief of their supposed countrymen. The English found not only
O'Neill's troops, but those to whose succor they came, drawn up in
order of battle, and ready to charge them, whilst Conn, son of O'Neill,
who lay in ambush with some infantry in the neighboring monastery,
attacked them in the rear. The English, being now between two fires,
were cut to pieces, within view of the garrison. Stafford, who was in
Armagh, finding himself outgeneraled, submitted to O'Neill, who per-
mitted him to join, with the rest of the garrison, the English army at
Dundalk. Upon a subsequent occasion, this same place was taken by the
English, and retaken by O'Neill, who, with unprecedented magnanim-
ity, sent, on both occasions, the English garrisons back to their general.
O'Donnel, accompanied by the M'Sweeneys, O'Dogherty, the brave
Maguire, O'Rourke, M'William, O'Kelly, M'Dermot, O'Connor Roe,
and O'Dowd, entered Connaught with their troops. He was also joined
by Murrough M'Sweeney, at the head of three hundred men, whom he
assisted in a petty war with the English, during two years, in Munster.
Clifford, who was appointed the new governor of Connaught, had not
yet arrived. General Norris was weary of serving in Ulster, where,
instead of gathering fresh laurels, he was losing those which he had
gained in foreign countries. Being desirous of trying his fortune in
other parts, he undertook an expedition, against O'Donnel, into Con-
naught, either to make terms with him. or reduce him by force. For
this purpose, he repaired to Athlone, where he was joined by the Earls
of Thuomond and Clanrickard, and others. He also received a reen-
forcement from England, which increased his army to ten thousand men.
Norris knew that O'Donnel was in the neighborhood of Ballinroab, near
Lake Mask, at the head of five hundred men ; and, having set out upon
his march, he soon found himself in view of the enemy, from whom he
was divided by a small river. The night was spent in firing, and, at
break of day, Norris demanded a conference with O'Donnel, in which
peace was proposed between the general of the queen and the Irish
chiefs. The terms offered to O'Donnel were advantageous, but were
not accepted. The conference lasted for some days, during which both
armies kept up hostilities, and fought in detached bodies, without coming
to a general engagement. Theobald the Naval, having attacked the
right wing of the Irish army, at the head of a heavy detachment, was
repulsed with the loss of three hundred men. The negotiation lasted for
a month between the Prince of Tyrconnel and Norris, without any
thing being settled upon. The latter suffered heavy losses, both in skir-
84

666 RISING OF LEINSTER. CONFUSION IN ENGLISH COUNCILS.

mishing and by the desertion of some nobles who joined the standard
of the Catholics. After being harassed in his retreat by the troops of
O'Donnel, he lost several of his men, and was forced to quit the
province in disgrace.

The deputy undertook an expedition, in May, into the county of
Wicklow, where he surprised and killed Fiach M'Hugh, chief of the
illustrious tribe of the O'Byrnes, and the champion of the Catholic cause
in Leinster. Fiach left two sons, Felim and Raymond, who inherited
his bravery and zeal for country. Felim left the command to his
brother, and went to visit O'Neill in Ulster, to ask him for assistance.
The Prince of Tyrone expressed great friendship for the young noble-
man, and, having condoled with him on the death of his father, gave
him about three hundred and fifty men, under the command of Brian
Riach O'Morra, a nobleman of Leinster. On returning with this reen-
forcement, Felim fought some skirmishes with the Eni^lish, and look
possession of his father's patrimony, which had been seized upon by the
foreigners. After this expedition, Brian O'Morra marched with the
same troops towards Loughgarme, (Wexford,) pillaged all the English
he met with on his march, and cut a large body of them to pieces,
besides four hundred Irish auxiliaries.

The young chief of O^Morra gave battle to St. Leger, who, after an
obstinate resistance, was forced to retreat, leaving Jive hundred men dead
on the field.

Some step was now necessary to be taken, in order to restore the
English power in Ireland. The queen recalled Russel, the deputy,
and appointed Lord Burrough to succeed him. He first exercised his
power over General Norris, whom he sent back to his office of governor,
in Munster, forbidding him to leave it without his permission. Norris
was too proud to brook this insult ; he had been already disgraced by
O'Neill, who had deprived him of the high military reputation he had
acquired abroad, and at length died, loaded with ignominy.

Burrough was haughty ; he commanded for a long time, in Holland,
against Philip the Second, whereby he became expert in the art of war.
A truce was made by this deputy, for one month, with O'Donnel,
O'Neill, and other Irish chiefs, and terms of peace were offered to
them, but in vain. The month being expired, the English generaJ
marched to Ulster, at the head of a powerful army. Besides the troops
which served under Russel and Norris, a large reenforcement was sent
to him from England.

The Anglo-Irish of Meath were zealous to signalize themselves in the

tirrell's pass. 667

cause of Elizabeth. They assembled at Mullingar, to the number of a
thousand men, under the command of Barnewall, Baron of Trimles-
town, and marched after the deputy. In their route, however, they met
with a signal defeat.

Richard Tirrell served at that lime in the army of O'Neill. His
talents peculiarly fitted him to command a flying camp. From the
rapidity of his expeditions, and capability of sustaining fatigue, he had
already become formidable to the English, and his memory is still
respected by the true Irish.

O'Neill saw, with calm reflection, the preparations that were in prog-
ress against him ; the march of the deputy was known to him ; ho
therefore prepared to oppose him, and to cause a diversion. Captain
Tirrell was despatched, at the head of four hundred infantry, with orders
to act in eidier Meath or Leinster, according to emergencies. Tirrell
marched through the whole of Meath without meeting an enemy, and,
having reached FertuUagh, he encamped in order to give his army some
repose. The iroojis which had been assembled at Mullingar, as has
been already observed, being apprized of Tirrell's march, determined to
take him by surprise. The baron, who commanded them, looked upon
this expedition as unworthy of himself, on account of the small number
of the enemy he had to fight, and, therefore, commissioned his son to
undertake it, thinking it a good opportunity for him to signalize himself.
At the dawn of day, Tirrell received information, through his spies, that
the enemy were in full march to surprise him. Without losing a
moment, he put himself in a state of defence, but made a feint of fly-
ing before them as they approached ; by which movement he gained a
defile covered with trees, which has been since called TirrelVs Pass.
He then detached half of his litde army, and posted them in a hollow
adjoining the road, giving the command to his lieutenant, O'Connor, a
brave and intrepid man, like himself. He then, in order to influence
his enemy to pursue him, marched on with his division. While the
English were passing the ambuscade, O'Connor sallied forth with his
troops, and caused the drums and fifes to play Captain Tirrell's
march. This was the signal agreed upon for an attack. The English
army, having got between two fires, were cut to pieces ; and so general
was the slaughter, that one or two only escaped, through a neighboring
bog, to carry the news to Mullingar, from whence the army had set out
three days before. Tirrell had sufficient generosity to spare the life of
the young nobleman who commanded his enemy, but brought him a
prisoner to O'Neill. During the action, O'Connor's hand became so

668 BATTLE OF BENBURB. DEFEAT OF THE INVADERS.

swollen, that it became necessary to cut off the handle of his sword
with a file, before it could be disengaged.

Burrough, the deputy, having reached Ulster with all his forces, his
first step was to take possession of Armagh and Portmor, which O'Neill
had abandoned after destroying the fortifications. The English general,
being afraid to proceed farther, repaired to Portmor, where he left a
garrison of five hundred men, and drew off the remainder of his army.
He boasted highly of this act of prowess, proclaiming every where that
he held the key of Ulster, which he could enter at his pleasure. This
boast was truly characteristic of his countrymen, who considered the
most trifling advantage a complete victory. It was carefully circulated
in foreign countries, where it was reported that the Irish had lost all
their towns, and that they were obliged to escape into the woods and
inaccessible places. A similar falsehood had been already published at
Brussels, on the supposed reduction of O'Neill, the folly of which we
shall discover in the sequel.

The deputy was on his way to Dublin, when he learned that Tirrell
was besieging Portmor ; so he immediately returned, collected his forces,
and crossed the Blackwater, but was prevented from advancing by
O'Neill, who divided his army, and formed two camps, sufficiently near
to assist each other. The command of the first division he gave to his
brothers, Cormac and Art O'Neill, and M'Mahon, at Droum-Fluich, on
the road to Beaun-Bhoruib, at present Benburb, on the left bank of the
river. The prince himself commanded the second camp at Tobuir-
Masain, and was assisted by James M'Donnel, Prince of the Glynns.
The deputy endeavored, in spite of O'Neill's position, to force a pas-
sage; but O'Neill's two divisions having united, they made a desperate
attack. In the onset, Burrough was mortally wounded, and was carried
to Newry, where he died in a few days. This battle was renewed
several times. The Earl of Kildare, on whom the command of the
English army devolved, after Burrough's retreat, suffered the same fate ;
having been wounded, and twice thrown from his horse, his two foster
brothers were killed in endeavoring to put him again on horseback : he
fled from the field of batde, and died of his wounds a few days after.
The carnage was dreadful ; numbers of the English lay dead upon the
field ; many were drowned in the river, and very many wounded. The
persons of note who fell upon the English side, besides the deputy and
the Earl of Kildare, Were Francis Waghan, the deputy's brother-in-
law, Thomas Walen, and Turner.

Clifford, governor of Connaught, received orders to march with his

FURTHER EFFORTS OF THE INVADERS FOR A PEACE. 669

troops to the relief of the deputy in Ulster. He accordingly set out at
the head of seven hundred men, but, having the misfortune to meet
with O'Donnel, he was completely defeated. Clifford lost several men
of rank on this occasion, amongst whom was the Baron of Ineschete.

The queen saw her forces greatly diminished in Ireland by the fre^
quent advantages gained over them by the confederates, and could not
find persons qualified to succeed Burrough and Norris. She, however,
nominated provisional magistrates and officers for the administration of
affairs. Sir Thomas Norris, president of Munster, was appointed lord
justice ; but his grief for the death of his brother caused him to resign
in a month. The government then received an account of the state
of affliirs from the council, who informed them that the war was a
general revolt of the Irish, with an intent to shake off the English
yoke. Thomas Duff Butler, Earl of Ormond, accepted the commis-
sion of lieutenant-general. Ambition being the guide of this noble-
man's acts, he was drawn into a faction that was opposed to his
country ; but he never enjoyed the reputation of being a great captain.
Among other instructions which the Earl of Ormond received from the
court of England, he was enjoined to endeavor to bring about a peace
with O'Neill ; for which purpose, a truce for two months was agreed
upon. Tliey met at Dundalk, and O'Neill proposed the terms ; the
first and principal one being the free exercise of the Catholic religion
throughout the kingdom. The other conditions proposed by this prince,
regarded the grievances of the Irish, and the reparation of the injustice
which was practised towards them. These overtures were submitted to
the English council, and acceded to in every thing, except the free
exercise of religion ; whereon the truce was broken off, and hostilities
resumed.

About the end of the summer, 1598, O'Neill collected all his troops,
and laid siege to the Fort of Blackwater, called also Portmor. At the
same time, he sent fifteen hundred chosen men to assist his ally,
O'Moore, of Leix, who was then besieging Maryborough, where there
was an English garrison. These movements produced a diversion, and
compelled the Earl of Ormond to divide his forces. He first despatched
three thousand men against O'Morra. Five thousand men were then
sent against O'Neill, of Ulster, commanded by Bagnal, tl}e marshal.
Brian Riach O'Morra defeated the three thousand English that were
sent against him ; fifteen hundred, besides the commander, being slain,
and Maryborough was taken. O'Morra died, in a few days after, from
his v/ounds, and the command devolved upon Owen O'Morra.

670 o'neill surprised.

During these transactions in Leinster, Marshal Bagnal, having the
command of the army in Ulster, repaired to Newry, which was a gen-
eral place of meeting for the English. O'Neill was then encamped
with his army at MoUach-Ban, on the road to Armagh, and, wishing to
cut off all communication between that place and the enemy, he sent his
brother Cormac, with a body of five hundred men, to defend the passes.
Bagnal was considered an able creneral : he knew that O'Neill was
waiting to give him battle, on his march to Armagh, which city he
wished to relieve ; but he deceived the prince. He marched circuitously
from Newry to Armagh, and supplied the garrison with provisions, in
spite of the brave resistance of Cormac O'Neill, who maintained his
ground for some time, but was at length forced to yield to superior
numbers. Flushed at this trifling advantage, Bagnal determined to tak«
O'Neill's camp by surprise ; and, setting out by night, he put the enemy's
advance-guard to the sword. They then surromided O^NeiWs tent,
who had escaped in his shirt, luith some of his attendants ; but some
servants, that were left to guard it and the baggage, were killed. As
soon as day appeared, O'Neill collected the forces that were near him,
and, having forced the English to abandon their booty, he then put
them to flight. Both sides lost some men in this action.

The English were masters of some towns in Ulster, which were
favorable for their depredations, and afforded them a secure retreat ; the
principal of them were Newry, Dundrum, and Carrickfergus. Sir John
Chichester, the English governor, marched, about the same time, at the
head of five hundred infantry and a troop of horse, to plunder the
neighborhood. Coming up, at Alfracha, with James M'Donnel, Prince
of Antrim, who had with him about four hundred foot and sixty horse,
to oppose these robbers, they came to an engagement which was fatal
to the English. Their captain having fallen, they were cut to pieces,
so that scarcely one remained to bring the intelligence to Carrickfergus.
About the same time, the Baron of Triinlestovvn made some inroads on
Monaghan, with the Anglo-Irish of Meath, and a few English troops,
but was defeated by the M'Mahons.

The vanity and bad fliith of the English will not suffer them to
admit the victories the Irish armies gained over them. Their his-
torians either pass them over in silence, or obscure them, so that the
advantage may appear to be in favor of their countrymen. Invectives
are poured out against a generous people, who fought for their religion
and their freedom, and the epithets of traitor, rebel, and barbarian, aro
heaped upon the Irish for not calmly yielding to a hateful yoke. An

BATTLE OF BEAI--AN-A-BUIDH. 671

Englishman must be well beaten before he will admit it. A brilliant
victory was gained, this year, over those foreigners, by O'Neill. The
truth of this is not questioned even by the English themselves, since
they acknowledge that it was the bloodiest defeat they met with since
their arrival in the island.

O'Neill endeavored to bring the English marshal to an engagement,
and, being joined by O'Donnel, Maguire, the general of the cavalry,
and other noblemen of the province, he laid siege to Portmor, having
in this a double object in view ; first, to reduce the place by famine, by
cutting off the supplies ; and, secondly, to compel the English to fight,
by forcing them to relieve it. The hopes of O'Neill were equalled by
his success. In the beginning of August, Bagnal marched with the
flower of his army to the relief of Portmor, and, when arrived within a
mile of Ardmagh, he met with O'Neill, at a place called Beal-an-a-buidk,
between two plains, bordered by a bog on one side, and on the other
by a thick wood. The battle commenced, and the slaughter was
terrible. Marshal Bagnal, with twenty-four of his principal officers,
and two thousand of his army, was killed upon the spot; and the
remainder of his forces put to flight. The loss of the English was
heightened by an accident that happened in the beginning of the
action, in the quarter where the reserve forces lay. The powder
magazine having taken fire, five hundred men, who were guarding
the baggage, were blown up. The spoils that were wrested from
them also were very considerable ; twelve thousand pieces of gold,
their warlike stores, thirty-four stand of colors, all their instruments
of war, all their artillery, and provisions of every kind, fell into the
hands of the Irish. The English who had the good fortune to escape,
took the road to Ardmagh. Several were slain in the pursuit, and
both horsemen, and about fifteen hundred foot soldiers, sought safety
in the churches of that city. This victory cost O'Neill about two
hundred men killed and six hundred wounded, and was followed by
the surrender of Portmor. (On this battle, one of the poets of the
" Nation " has written a good song, which will be found in the
" Spirit of the Nation.")

These brilliant campaigns of O'Neill, and of the other princes and
noblemen of Ulster, had opposite influences on the English and Irish
people ; the alarm of the former was great, while the joy of the latter
was universal. They looked upon O'Neill as the liberator of his
country. Many of the chiefs ranged under his command, and sought
his protection.

672 DISMAY OF THE QUEEN. MUNSTER LEAGUE.

The queen's officers sent letters to her majesty, complaining of the
sad state of things in Ireland, and saying that, so far from being able to
maintain an offensive war in that country, they could not defend them-
selves against the enemy without speedy assistance, and more powerful
resources than any that had been previously sent. The queen was
averse to abandoning the cause of her English province in Ireland.
She attached heavy blame to the Earl of Ormond for not having gone
in person against O'Neill ; and commanded Bingham, who had been
lately removed from the government of Connaught for his cruelty, to
repair to Ireland, and succeed Bagnal in the office of marshal. Two
thousand foot, and a hundred horse, were, at the same time, despatched
thither, under the orders of Sir Samuel Bagnal. These troops landed at
Wexford, and were harassed in their march to Dublin by the Irish,
who killed a great number of them. Bingham arrived in Dublin with
great difficulty, where he soon after died.

The example of the men of Ulster roused the fallen courage of the
Irish in other provinces of Ireland, particularly in Munster, where the
bravery of the celebrated Earl of Desmond was still fresh among hJs
illustrious allies. This feeling it was necessary to encourage ; and to
effect that object. Sir Peter de Lacy, a powerful nobleman in the county
of Limerick, wrote to Owen or Owny M'Rory-Ogue O'Morra, who had
an army on foot, and invited him, in the name of the Irish Catholics
in Munster, to come to their relief. O'Morra, having consulted with
O'Neill, undertook the expedition. He committed tiie government of
Leix to his brother Edmond, and, at the head of eight hundred infantry
and some horsemen, set out on his march for Munster. Raymond Burke,
Baron of Leitrim, and his brother William, as also Dermod O'Connor
and his brothers Cairbre and Conn, with Richard Tirrell, of FertuUagh,
accompanied O'Morra in this expedition. He frightened the Earl of
Ormond, and passed triumphandy on through the country.

The success of O'Morra (O'Moore) produced an almost univers-xl
rising of the noblemen in Munster against the queen.

The chief men that formed a league against the queen were Fitz-
maurice, Baron of Lixnaw ; William Fitzgerald, Knight of Kerry and
Lord of Kafinnin ; Edmond Fitzgerald, Knight of the Glinn ; Sir
Edmond Fitzgerald, called the white livight, with many other branches
of that celebrated house ; Dermod and Donogh M'Carty, rival candi-
dates for the principality of Alia ; Daniel, son of M'Carty More ;
Patrick Condon ; O'Donohoe More, of Onachte ; O'Donoghoe, of the
Glinn ; Roche, Viscount Fermoy ; Richard Butler, Viscount of Mont-

UfUNSTER LEAGUE. BATTLES. 673

garret, w ho bad married the daughter of O'Neill ; and Thomas Butler,
Bai-on of Cahir. The same disposition animated the several tribes of
the O'SuUivans, the O'Driscols, the O'Donnevans, and the O'Mahonys,
of Carbry, who signalized themselves in the common cause of their
country. The confederates appointed for their leader James, son of
Thomas Fitzgerald, surnamed the Red, and acknowledged him as Earl
of Desmond, and leader of the confederates in that province, where
the memory of the Earls of Desmond was still dear and respected.

Religion was not the sole cause of the above alliance. The tyranny
of the English governors, and the intolerable insolence of the adven-
turers who had been sent to occupy the estates of Desmond and other
noblemen, contributed greatly to the undertaking. These adventurers
became the first victims to the rage of the confederates. They were
driven from their ill-gained possessions, and their castles razed to the
ground. Finding themselves now unprotected by the governor, Norris,
who was scarcely able to defend himself, they fled to Waterford, and
embarked for their own country.

By this great stroke, the adventurers, who had lately come over from
England into Munster and Connaught, were completely driven back to
their native country.

Norris, who shut himself up in Cork, and remained inactive while
the war was blazing in the province, to the command of which he had
been appointed, felt heavily the shame of it ; and, in order to screen
his character, he formed the resolution of attacking the Irish. For
this purpose, all his forces, amounting to two thousand five hundred men,
were mustered by him in Cork ; and he marched upon Kilmallock.
Norris effected his object concerning the garrison of Kilmallock, but
was attacked, on his return, at Ard-Scieth, by the Earl of Desmond.
It was rather a disordered retreat than a battle. The above chiefs pur-
sued him the entire day for eight miles of his march. Many fell in the
several skirmishes ; but the heaviest loss was sustained by the fugitives,
who, being favored by the night, were at length fortunate enough to get
back into Kilmallock.

Norris undertook a second expedition, which had no better success
than the first ; he marched, with two thousand four hundred foot and
three hundred horse, against Lord Roche, Viscount Fermoy. At first,
the viscount abandoned Baile Androhid, a place not fortified, and with-
drew to Bailean Caislean, which was stronger. Norris at length sent
away some of his baggage by night, and took the route for Cork.
85

674 CONFEDERACY OF LEINSTER OF CONNAUGHT.

He was pursued by the Irish, who killed two hundred of his men at
Mainister-na-Mona.

Some months after the expedition of Norris, Thomas Burke sought
to be admitted into the confederate army. For this purpose, he applied
to Raymond Burke, Baron of Leitrim, and to his brother William ; and
they appointed him to the command of two hundred men. With this
little band, Thomas wished to surprise some places belonging to the
English in Muskerry. He met with General Norris at Killtili, at the
head of twelve hundred men. To avoid fighting was impossible ; and,
notwithstanding the disproportion of their numbers, he acted intrepidly,
and by one bold stroke decided the affair. A young man, named John
Burke, having forced his way into the ranks, struck Norris with his
lance, and disabled him ; and the English army, seeing their leader fall,
dispersed. The English general was brought to Mallow, where he
died, in fifteen days, of his wounds.

A. D. 1599. O'Neill beheld with pleasure the league that was formed
in Munster, and the advantages already gained over the English.
This prince, desirous of strengthening the alliance which he had made
with his confederates, granted their demands for assistance, by sending
them his brother Conn O'Neill, at the head of three thousand men,
well provided with arms and ammunition. The English lay in ambush
to dispute his passage, but Conn escaped their snares, by opening his
way, sword in hand, through the enemy. After leaving two thousand
of them dead upon the field of battle, he continued his march to Mun-
ster, where he acquired a high reputation for his military exploits.

The state of affairs at this time in Ireland, says Camden, was de-
plorable, the rebellion having become general through the kingdom.
The sway of the English in Ulster was confined to a few strong for-
tresses. The greater part of the nobility in Munster were up in arms
against them. The O'Morras, the O'Connors, the O'Byrnes, the
O'Tooles, the Cavanaghs, the Eustaces, and other chiefs of Leinster,
with the O'Molloys, the M'Geoghegans, and the Tirrells, of Meath,
were leagued to accomplish their freedom. The O'Rorkes, and some
branches of the Burkes, besides some other chiefs in Connaught, took
up arms for the same cause, so that Elizabeth saw herself, by this gen-
eral revolt, on the eve of losing all her authority in Ireland. She had
no person in that country capable of governing it. INIarshal Bagnal
was killed ; Richard Bingham, who had been sent by the court to
succeed that general, died on his arrival in Dublin ; Norris, who
governed Munster, and St. Leger, the president of Leix, perished by

GREAT ARJIY OF INVADERS LAND. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 675

the sword of the Catholics. The Earl of Ormond commanded the
army : his name, however, only, and not his capability, was suited to
his zeal in the cause of his mistress. In this position of her affairs, the
queen consulted with her council on the choice of a man capable of
remedying the disasters that she suffered in Ireland. Her majesty, and
most of her counsellors, cast their eyes on Charles Blunt, Lord Baron
Mountjoy. But Robert d'Evereux, Earl of Essex, whose ambition
knew no bounds, was at length appointed lord lieutenant, and with priv-
ileges more extensive than those of any of his predecessors. Her majesty
invested him with the prerogative of pardoning any crime, even that of
high treason ; besides the power of appointing to offices of trust ; of
removing those who enjoyed them without a patent ; of suspending
others from exercising them ; also of making military laws and carrying
them into execution ; of conferring in fief, according to his pleasure, the
confiscated estates of the Catholics, reserving a moderate and yearly
revenue from them for the crown ; and, in absence of the high admiral
of England, he had the command of the fleet, and the privilege of
applying the money in the exchequer to any purposes, without being
accountable for it. A powerful and well-provided army was given to
him ; it consisted of seventeen thousand foot and thirteen hundred
horse, — the most powerful force that had, up to that period, ever
been sent to Ireland.

All matters being arranged, the Earl of Essex, accompanied by three
young noblemen, who wished to be partakers of his glory in the expe-
dition, set out from London for Ireland, at the end of March, amidst the
acclamations of the people. The fleet having sailed, they were over-
taken and dispersed by a violent storm, by which many lives were lost.
Notwithstanding this misfortune, he landed, on the 15th of April, in
Dublin, where he took the usual oath, and received the sword of justice
as lord lieutenant.

The principal instructions given to Essex were, first, not to confer the
honor of knighthood on any but subjects of acknowledged merit ;
secondly, to block up O'Neill with all his forces, by placing strong gar-
risons in the forts of Loughfoyle and Ballyshannon. He had scarcely
landed in Ireland, when his creatures began to publish in foreign coun-
tries false accounts of his wonderful exploits ; atone time, that his arrival
had filled the confederate Catholics with terror, causing them to conceal
themselves in woods, and other inaccessible places ; at another, that
almost every one of them was accepting the offers of pardon held out
by him. The falsehood of these vain boastings was, however, proved
by the ill success of his expedition.

676 THE PASS OF THE PLUMES.

The first act of the jurisdiction of Essex in Ireland was to publish a
proclamation in the queen's name, excluding the ancient Irish, her
majesty's inveterate enemies, from all hopes of pardon. The Anglo-
Irish were promised pardon and religious toleration. The holy sacrifice
of the mass was celebrated ki private families, and the other sacraments
administered with more freedom ; his policy even induced him to set at
liberty some priests who had been confined in dungeons, and to confer
the grade 6f knights of the golden spur on some Catholics, with
whose opinions he was acquainted.

After making some regulations respecting the civil administration,
Essex turned his thoughts to the campaign, but did not follow the
plan that was laid down for him in London. Instead of marching with
all his forces against O'Neill and the confederates in Ulster, according to
his instructions, he divided them by giving three thousand foot and five
hundred horse to Henry Harrington, to watch the movements of
the O'Morras, the O'Byrnes, and other confederates of Leinster, and
sent three thousand more to Clifford, governor of Connaught, to keep
the nobles of that province in check. These detachments reduced
considerably his combined forces. Accompanied by three hundred
gentlemen, who volunteered in London to accompany him, he set out
from Dubhn, on the 20th of May, with the remainder of his army, and
marched towards Munster. In passing tlirough Leinster, the rear-
guard of the English was severely handled in a defile, by Owen
O'Morra, at the head of five hundred men, who killed several officers
and privates. The place where they fought was called, after this,
Beania-na-Gleti, which signifies the Pass of the Plumes, on account
of the quantity of them which the English lost in it.

This check did not prevent Essex from continuing his march into
Munster. He laid siege to the castle of Cahir^ situate on the River
Suire. The confederate Irish had in it but a garrison of seven or
eight soldiers, without artillery, so that they were unable to maintain a
siege against the army of Essex.

Essex had the castle of Cahir repaired, and, leaving a strong garrison
in it, with cannon and ammunition, he marched to the relief of Askea-
ton. His army received a considerable reenforcement by the junction
of some national troops, under the Earls of Thomond and Clanrickard,
M'Pieris Baron, and Henry Norris. On his way back from Askeaton, he
was pursued by Daniel M'Carty More and the Earl of Desmond, at the
head of two tliousand five hundred men. These chiefs having attacked
his rear-guard, at a place called Bnilc-en-Finitcre, the action was very
bloody : it lasted from nine in the morning till five in the afternoon. A

TOTAL DEFEAT OF ESSEX. 677

great number of the English were killed, and Henry Norris, one of their
leadei-s, was found among the slain. The loss on the side of the Irish
was not so great. After this battle, Essex encamped for a few days at
Cruomui, to refresh his troops ; he then marched to Waterford, and was
pursued and harassed during six days by the Irish army.

General Harrington, in the mean time, received a heavy check in the
principality of Leix. This general, who was appointed to restore
peace to that district, having suiTounded the troops of O'Morra, flat-
tered himself that he would be able to reduce them with little loss
to himself; but the bravery of the Irish snatched the victory from
him. He lost in this engagement twelve hundred men, with all their
officers, and, among the rest, Adam Loftus, son of the Protestant arch-
bishop of Dublin, who was found among the slain. The remainder of
the anny was put to flight.

Ware, Cox, and others, mistake the circumstances of this victory, or
confound them with a similar one gained over Harrington by the
O'Byrnes, in the glens of the county of Wicklow ; after which, the
viceroy, to punish the want of courage among the English, had them
decimated. They, however, are all agreed that the English were
defeated by the Irish. Christopher Blanche was sent over at this time
to Ireland as lord marshal. Wishing to distinguish himself by some
brilliant achievement, he marched to OfFaly, where his army was de-
feated by the O'Connors, with the loss of five hundred horse, and he
himself escaped with difficulty, having had a leg broken in the action.
In the mean time, the Earl of Essex confined himself to the city of
Cork. He was deeply affected by the ill success of his arms, which is
ingenuously acknowledged in his letter to the English council ; it was
intercepted by the Irish, and contains the following words : " I am con-
fined ill Cork, where there is an abundance of warlike stores ; but still
I have been unsuccessful ; my undertakings have been attended with
misfortune. I do not know to what this can be attributed, except to an
evil star that has led me here." Finding the forces diminished, he left
Munster, without performing one deed worthy of his reputation. To-
wards the end of July, he returned with the wrecks of his army to
Dublin, where he learned that James Butler, brother to the baron, had
retaken the castle of Cahir, and put the English garrison to the sword.

Essex now turned his thoughts to Ulster ; but, as his march to
Munster had greatly diminished his numbers, he wrote to the queen, in
conjunction with the council, to ask for fresh reenforcements. At the
same time, he sent for Clifford, governor of Connaught, to march with

678 BATTLE OF CORSLIEVE.

the troops under him towards the frontiers of Ulster, in order to create
a diversion. In compliance, Clifford assembled his army at Athlone,
on the Shannon ; their destination being Belick, on the River Erne.
Clifford sent orders to Theobald Burke, surnamed the Naval, to have
cannon, and every thing necessary for the execution of his plans, brought
by sea from Galway to Sligo, while he would lead the army by land.
In the mean time, O'Connor Sligo, who supported the queen's cause
against his country, scoured the county of Sligo with a body of cavalry,
to force the inhabitants to abandon O'Donnel, whose cause they had
espoused from a spirit of patriotism and religion, and to favor the
designs of Clifford ; but, meeting with some of O'Donnel's army, they
were compelled to take refuge in Killmuiny, at a short distance
from Sligo, where they were besieged by O'Donnel.

Clifford, being aware of the danger in which O'Connor was of falling
into the power of the enemy, reviewed all his troops. His army
amounted to two thousand five hundred infantry, both English and their
Irish auxiliaries, and a few squadrons of cavalry. The principal chiefs
of the auxiliary Irish, were O'Connor Don, Prince of Magherry Con-
naught, Melmor M'Sweeney, Prince of Tueth, (who, through some
displeasure, had abandoned O'Donnel, and gone over to the English,)
and Richard Burke, son of the Earl of Clanrickard and Baron of
Dunkillin. Matters being thus arranged, Clifford set out from Athlone,
by forced marches for Boyle. O'Donnel purposed to oppose the
enemy. He put a strong garrison of four hundred infantry under the
command of M'Sweeney Fanid and M'William Burke, into Sligo, and
left two hundred cavalry to hold on the blockade of Killmuiny ; after
which, he marched with O'Dogharty, Prince of Inisowen, and the
remainder of the army, to Corslieve Mountain, where Clifford had to
pass into the county of Sligo. Tirconnel possessed himself of the
defiles of this mountain, and had trees cut down to obstruct Clifford's
passage ; he then encamped with his army in an adjoining plain.

In the mean time, Theobald Burke appeared with his little fleet
before Sligo, but dared not to enter. He thought prudent to await
the arrival of Clifford's army. This governor being arrived at Boyle,
he left his cavalry under the command of Sir Markham Griffin, since, in
passing the defiles of Corslieve, they could not act. On the eve of
Lady-day, O'Donnel was apprized of the movement of the English
army. O'Donnel then sent Owen M'Sweeney, with Giolla and TuUi
O'Gallagher, at the head of six hundred infantry, to stop the enemy,
while he himself was preparing to attack them, in order of battle. The

DEFEAT OF THE INVADERS. 679

engagement commenced at eleven o'clock in the morning, and continued
for some time with equal success, till O'Rorke appeared at the head of
a body of infantry, and turned the scale of victory. The terror of the
English was so great, that they threw their arms on the ground and
fled. The rout now became general ; the Irish troops pursued the
fugitives for three miles ; Markham, who continued at Boyle with the
cavalry, came out to the relief of the English : he attacked and killed
some of those who were engaged in the pursuit ; but O'Rorke, coming
up, drove him back, and, though badly wounded, he got into Boyle.
The English lost in this battle fourteen hundred men in killed, with
Clifford, the governor of Connaught, and Henry RatcliiFe, a young
English nobleman, who were found among the slain. One hundred
and forty of the Irish army were killed and wounded. After this
defeat of the English, a great booty was found ; and the conquerors
became masters of a vast quantity of arms, colors, cannon, dress, and
other warlike apparatus.

O'Neill, who was on his march to the assistance of O'Donnel,
arrived too late, by two days, to share in the glory of this victory. The
news of the defeat of the English, and the death of Clifford, being
spread, Burke the Naval set sail immediately from Sligo to return to
Galway. O'Connor surrendered to O'Donnel, who put him into the
possession of his demesne at Sligo, on his promising to assist thereafter
against the English. English writers acknowledge that their country-
men were defeated in the Curlew Mountains, by the Irish, whom
they style rebels, commanded by O'Rorke. They have candor enough
also to allow that Clifford, Ratcliffe, and others, were killed in this
action, but they strive to smooth the disaster, by giving mutilated
accounts of it. " Though the rebels," says Camden, " were superior
in numbers, still they were repulsed by the English ; but for the want
of powder, the English were put to the rout."

The Earl of Essex was greatly disconcerted by the defeat of
Clifford's army. He waited with anxiety for the arrival of a reenforce-
ment from England ; a thousand foot soldiers at length arrived in
Dublin, in September, and all the forces then marched for the frontiers
of Ulster. As soon as O'Neill heard of the movement of the viceroy,
he put his own army in motion, and proceeded to the town of Louth,
where he encamped on the banks of a small river which separated the
two armies. The English, says Peter Lombard, seeing the Irish
so well prepared and eager to engage, were so panic-struck, (according

680 ESSEX SEEKS A CONFERENCE WITH o'nEILL.

to the words of some who were present,) that they were covered with
shame, and afraid to hold up their heads.

The viceroy immediateiy despatched a herald to O'Neill, to declare
to him, that he had not come as an enemy into his province ; oh the
contrary, that he came to offer him terms of peace, or at least a truce,
and that he would send commissioners for that purpose, if he would
accede to his doing so. The Prince of Tyrone having agreed to the
proposal, two knights and a counsellor of state were despatched for that
purpose by the Earl of Essex. These commissioners being admitted
to an audience with O'Neill, they explained to him the purport of their
mission. The prince replied, that he would not agree to the terms.

This reply being communicated to the viceroy, the earl despatched a
second herald to the prince, and proposed to meet him at a short dis-
tance from their respective armies. The prince accepted the proposal
of meeting him, but not apart from his army. Essex, who was eager
for an interview on any terms, gave up his stipulation ; he sent away
the greater part of his army to Drogheda, and proceeded towards the
camp of O'Neill, accompanied by a few nobles and a small number of
horsemen. The two chiefs, having met, went down the river, where
they might confer together. The conference lasted for some hours ; the
viceroy looked for a truce till the month of May. O'Neill answered,
that his honor, which was pledged not only to foreign princes, but to
the grandees of his own nation, would not allow him to accede to it.
Essex reminded O'Neill of the ancient friendship that subsisted between
the earl, his father, and him, and, consequently, that he ought to feel
some sympathy towards the humbled position of his son. The heart
of O'Neill could not resist any longer the repeated solicitations of
Essex, and the prince consented to a truce of six weeks, on condition
that each should be at liberty to break off by giving a notice of fourteen
days. The truce being thus settled on, the two noblemen passed a few
hours in social enjoyment.

Essex, pleased with his negotiations with O'Neill, took leave of that
prince, and returned to Dublin, where he received a letter from the
queen, dated the 14th of September. Her majesty reproached him and
the council with maladministration, and a contempt for her commands.
This reproach was mortifying to Essex ; he was recalled and disgraced.
The history of the tragic end of that nobleman is sufficiently known ;
it will suffice to observe, that, though one of Elizabeth's chief favorites,
he was beheaded soon afterwards.

o'nEILL marches through IRELAND. 681

After Essex had left Ulster, a Spanish captain arrived in that province
with two ships laden with warlike stores, which his Catholic majesty
had sent to O'Neill. He received the officer, and asked why the king
had omitted so long to send the succors which he had promised, and
why he did not send all at the same time. The officer answered, that
his majesty intended it, but that the report of peace having been made
between O'Neill and Queen Elizabeth, was the cause ; and added, that
the king of Spain sent him for the express purpose (with these two
ships) of bringing him an account of how affairs stood in Ireland. This
reply did not satisfy O'Neill ; however, lie concealed his disappointment
with his accustomed prudence.

Philip the Second, king of Spain, having died, Philip the Third
succeeded ; and, interested in following the plans of his brother, in
regard to the war in Ireland, he sent over two legates, with a
crown of phoenix feathers to the Prince of Ulster, with twenty-two
thousand pieces of gold, and several kegs of silver for payment of the
troops.

Encouraged even by this moderate assistance, and hoping for greater
from the Spaniards, O'Neill resumed hostilities, after a notice of fourteen
days, in pursuance of the truce made with Essex. A. D. 1600. Having
provided for the security of the principality of Tyrone, ho marched
through the whole of Leinster, at the head of seven thousand men,
towards Cork, where he encamped, and consulted with the Earl of
Desmond, Florence M'Carty Reagh, and other chiefs of the province,
about the means of supporting the war. He sent deputies to those
whose sincerity he doubted, to solicit them to join in the confederacy
against " the enemies of God, their religion, and their country." As a
stronger inducement, he sent them an authentic copy of the sentence
of excommunication which Pius the Fifth had pronounced against the
queen of England and her adherents. Several were brought over by
the reasoning of O'Neill, particularly Finian M'Carty. Others, in-
fluenced by a different policy, though strongly attached to the Catholic
faith, replied, that a subject of such moment ought to be suspended for
a while, as the opinion of the see of Rome was not well known.

Prince O'Neill, who deemed their policy injurious, expressed his dis-
pleasure at the replies of these noblemen. Some of them he treated
with severity, and devastated their lands, in order to deprive the enemy
of subsistence ; others he compelled to give hostages for their future
conduct.

During O'Neill's stay in Munster, the queen's troops kept within
86

682 THE GALLANT o'mORRA.

garrisons and strong places, not daring to take the field, so that the
time passed over without hostilities, except an affair between Hugh Ma-
guire, prince of Fermanagh, who commanded O'Neill's cavalry, and
St. Leger, president of Munster, in which both noblemen fell. Maguire,
attended only by Edmond M'Caffry, his standard-bearer, Niall O'Dur-
nin, and a priest, left the camp one day, either to take an airing or to
reconnoitre the country. Having advanced too far, he met with St.
Leger, at the head of sixty cavalry ; notwithstanding this difference in
numbers, Maguire, putting spurs to his horse, forced his way through
the enemy to their commander, who shot him through the body.
Though Maguire's wound was mortal, he determined to be revenged ;
struck St. Leger such a blow with his lance that he cleft his head
through the helmet, and then opened a passage for himself, sword in
hand. Both generals died of their wounds a few days after, greatly
regretted by their respective corps.

The Prince O'Neill, before he left Munster, took the necessary
measures for the defence of the province and the security of the con-
federates. He placed some veteran troops among them, and, returning
through Leinster, he left a reenforcement with O'Morra of Leix. Before
this, he passed in view of Ormond, who commanded the English army,
but without bringing them to a battle. He arrived safe in Ulster, having
honorably fulfilled the designs he had in view.

Charies Blunt, Baron of Mountjoy, was appointed viceroy, and Sir
George Carew was named president of Munster, by the queen. These
two noblemen repaired to Dublin, about the end of February, and soon
proceeded to Kilkenny, where they visited the Eari of Ormond.
Ormond had promised to meet Owen, son of Rory O'Morra, on the
borders of Idough, and the president promised to accompany him with
his attendants. All arrived, according to appointment, at the place of
meeting. The troops of both parties were at a distance, when the con-
ference began between Ormond and O'Morra, which lasted for an hour
without any thing being concluded. O'Morra had a Jesuit with him
named Archer, who was zealously opposed to the reformation, with
whom Ormond began a controversy on the scoie of religion, in the
course of which he called the Jesuit a traitor ; saying that, under a sem-
blance of religion, he was seducing her majesty's subjects from their
allegiance ; after which he proceeded to abuse the pope and church of
Rome. O'Morra, no longer able to bear with language so indecent,
and so foreign to the subject before them, seized the eari, dragged him
from his horse, and made him prisoner. The president and Thomond,

NEGOTIATIONS. 683

with his other friends who were at hand, being alarmed, ran to his
assistance and commenced fighting. Some of the English were killed,
several wounded, and more made prisoners ; while the president and
Thomond took to flight, and owed their safety only to the swiftness of
their hoi-ses. Thomond was wounded in the back with a pike, as he
complained in a letter to the council of England, wherein the circum-
stances of his misfortune in this affray are described. As soon as the
two noblemen had got out of danger, they talked of revenge ; their
drums and trumpets were ordered to rally the troops and renew the
fight ; but the terror of the English was so great, that none but Captains
Harvey, Browne, Comerford, and some servants, had the courage to
move forward ; and, consequently, they had no alternative but to sub-
mit to their misfortune. They then returned to Kilkenny, where they
found the Countess of Ormond inconsolable for her husband's capture.

The deputy was in Dublin when he heard of this unhappy occur-
rence, and likewise that the sons of Montgarret and several other
noblemen of the Butlers were up in arms.

The O'Connors Faly, too, laid siege, at this time, to the castle of
Crouchan, which was situated in the principality of OfFaly. Thomas
Moor, a knight of the golden spur, and GifFard, both Englishmen, com-
manded the garrison. The besiegers, having no artillery, scaled the
walls with a hundred foot soldiers, and, having entered, put the garrison,
which consisted of Englishmen, to the sword, and became masters of
the fortress.

The Irish of Ulster were still in possession of that province, with the
exception of a few forts, which the English kept and garrisoned. The
deputy was commanded to reduce this province ; but a want of energy
in his operations excited the suspicions of the court. It was, therefore,
deliberated in council whether he should be recalled, and another
deputy appointed, or whether supplies should be sent to continue the
war against O'Neill and his allies more vigorously, if he should refuse
to make peace. The latter plan was adopted, and a fresh reenforce-
ment of troops was ordered to Ireland. In consequence of this, the
deputy wrote to O'Neill, in April, proposing terms of peace, in the
name of the queen and council, which, so far as related to religion, and
the reparation of the injuries that the Irish Catholics had sustained, ap-
peared reasonable. The Prince of Ulster, however, knew too well the
disposition of the English, to place any confidence in their promises ; he
knew that nothing but the inability of acting otherwise would influence
them to keep faith with him ; and, besides, he expected daily the

684 RENEWAL OF HOSTILITIES.

assistance that had been promised to him by the King of Spain, so that
he rejected the overtures of the deputy.

Mountjoy feh the necessity of removing the suspicions which were
e>Btertained against him by the court ; and, finding the Prince of Ulster
deaf to the proposals he had made, he saw that his only resource to
redeem his honor lay in force. He, therefore, collected his troops, to
attack him by sea and land ; and in the month of March, a fleet of
sixty-seven ships, under Sir Henry Dockwra, was ordered to take pos-
session of a lake in the north of Ireland, called LoiighfoyJe, to cause,
in that quarter, a diversion favorable to the expedition of his forces by
land. Five thousand infantry and three hundred horse were on board
this fleet, well provided with ammunition and warlike stores. The
English commander, also, had constructed, on the borders of Lough-
foyle, four forts, from whence he made frequent incursions on the lands
of O'Dogharty, and other noblemen.

O'Neill, when informed of the movements of the English, assembled
a council of the chief men of the province, to adopt measures against
the enemy. It was determined, that Prince O'Donnel should oppose
the attempts of the garrisons on Loughfoyle, while O'Neill himself
would march against the deputy. A detachment of the Irish army
having met a party of the English, who were guarding their baggage,
attacked and killed a great number of them, and became masters of
considerable booty. Tiie deputy, alarmed at this event, returned im-
mediately to Dublin, where he remained for some time.

The Earl of Ormond was still a prisoner with O'Morra. His
countess applied with eagerness for his liberation ; for which purpose,
she addressed letters to the queen, and to the Prince of Ulster: she
reminded the latter of the friendship that subsisted between him and the
earl, and begged that, in consideration of the services he had rendered
him, he would procure him his freedom. O'Neill paid regard to the
entreaties of the countess, and procured her husband's liberty, on con-
dition that he would no longer act against his religion or his country,
and that he should give hostages for his fidelity.

Mountjoy, who remained in Dublin since his last expedition to
Ulster, proceeded to Kilkenny, to visit the Earl of Ormond after his
liberation. He then marched at the head of some troops into Leix, and
brought laborers with him to cut down the corn before it was ripe, in
order to deprive the inhabitants of subsistence for the next winter, and
thereby prolong the war. The inhabitants of Leix ran to arms, and at-
tacked both the reapers and the troops who were guarding them ; the

CRAFT AND CRUELTY OF MOUNTJOY. 685

lord deputy was dismounted, and his horse killed under him, so that he
saved himself with difficulty, on foot, through a neighboring bog. The
advantages to the Irish from this victory were not equal to the
heavy loss that they sustained by the death of Owen O'Morra, killed
in the action, who was the soul of the confederacy of Leinster.

O'Donnel, who was appointed to watch the motions of the garrisons
on Loughfoyle, pursued several detachments from those places, and
killed a great many of them. The forts were also surrounded .by
O'Neill's army. In the month of August, this prince surprised fifteen
hundred of their men, who were foraging, and put the whole of them
to the sword ; but the English being masters by sea, and the Irish
having no fleet to oppose them, their losses were quickly repaired by
fresh arrivals of men and arms from England.

The successes of the English in Munster were more rapid, in
consequence of the divisions that prevailed in that province. A king-
dom divided must fall. Some of their chiefs had already embraced
the reformed religion through interest and an ambition to please
Elizabeth ; the rest continued attached to the Roman church. Among
the latter, however, were some political temporizers, who would run no
risk, and whose principle was to accommodate themselves to the times.
The English government omitted nothing to excite disunion ; they strove
to reduce the Irish to the most abject wretchedness, hy destroying their
jlocks, and the crops necessary for their support ; and also by drawing
out of Ireland all its gold and silver, and sending from England, in lieu
of it, a new copper coin, which would not pass in any other country,
and which soon lost its value there.

While Carew was employed in holding a council in Cork, to de-
liberate on the affairs of the province, several skirmishes took place
between the Irish and the court party. Meeting with difficulties
in the conquest of Munster, he had to resort to stratagem to supply the
want of force. In order to gain over to him some of the confederates,
and thus diminish the number of his enemies, he prepared an expe-
dition against Limerick, threatening to give up to his soldiers the prop-
erty of the Catholics on his march. This he effected by great cunning,
energy, and stratagem, burning and destroying every thing in his way
from Cork to Limerick.

The gold of the English was now showered in bribes on all those
who were rotten and base enough to give up their trusts. Under its
influence some important places were basely surrendered. One of the
O'Neill's, and another of the O'Donnel's, surrendered two important

686 SIGNAL DEFEAT OF THE INVADERS.

posts, which, as naturally may be supposed, produced great dismay
among the Irish. Still the redoubled energy of the O'Donnd and
the O'Neill subdued even rebels, and overawed the invaders.

Mountjoy marched, in July, at the head of his forces, towards the
ffontiers of Ulster ; but this expedition was equally unsuccessful as the
former. He advanced towards Armagh and Portmor, the garrisons of
which he relieved, but was deterred from proceeding farther, as he
dreaded O'Neill, who was strongly intrenched, which caused him to
return to Dublin.

The deputy set out again from Dublin, in the month of August.
He marched first to Naas, in order to join Oliver Lambert, who com-
manded a body of troops at Philipstown, in OfFally. The two com-
manders, having united their forces, carried fire and sword every where
as they passed, so that every step in their march was marked with
cruelty, tyranny, and a devastation of the provisions of the people.

Wishing to create a diversion in favor of his friends at Loughfoyle,
Mountjoy marched, in October, for Ulster, at the head of six thousand
fighting men. He did not proceed far into the province, when he met
with the O'Neill. The two armies continued in sight of each other for
fifteen days without attempting any thing, after which two battles were
fought — one near Dundalk, and the other in the neighborhood of Car-
lingford. These proved fatal to the English ; they lost upwards of
four thousand men ; the deputy was dangerously ivounded, and carried
to Newry to be cured. It was now that the English government set a
price upon the head of O'Neill. A proclamation was issued, offering a
reward of two thousand pounds sterling to any one who would deliver
him up alive, or one thousand pounds for his head.

Carew, the president, who was still in Limerick, marched with his
troops, in the month of June, into the district of Connillo, where he
made himself master, after several unimportant skirmishes, of many
important fortresses, burning and destroying the growing grain, or burn-
ing that which had been newly harvested, insomuch that in a few
weeks there was very little food left, and thousands upon thousands
perished by famine.

The invaders, by these means, procured the ignoble submission of
many of the most influential chiefs of the south. The Earl of Des-
mond, however, who was the soul of the southern Irish, harassed the
invaders in many a well-fought skirmish. His army was now reduced
to six hundred infantry and a few cavalry, so that he could not openly
attack the invaders, who were five times his number. Endeavoring to

REVERSES OF THE IRISH. 687

enter the wood of Arlogh, he lost two hundred of these in a well-fought
action ; but he finally entered. From this spot, he retreated towards
the north. Many places now surrendered, which had held out for
years against the invaders, and the south again came fully under their
dominion.

The deputy Mountjoy marched, in the month of December, into the
county of Wicklow, to chastise the O'Byrnes and O'Tooles, who made
frequent attacks upon the lands near Dublin. Having attempted, in
vain, to get Felim, son of Fiach, into his power, he carried away with
him, as prisoners, his wife and eldest son ; after which, he laid the
whole country waste, burning the houses and their haggards as he
passed along. He put garrisons into TuUow and Wicklow; then
marched to Monastereven, and afterwards visited Trim, Mullingar,
Athlone, and Drogheda ; from which place he set out for Dublin, on
the 26th of April, after distributing the troops among the different
garrisons.

Gold and titles, in the greatest profusion, were now bestowed by the
queen on the deserters from the Catholic to the Protestant faith, while
those who refused to conform were deprived of their lands, liberties,
titles, and life.

The forces of the Irish were continually diminished by their frequent
battles, and by their having no succors sent them from abroad, while
those of the English were receiving constant reenforcements from their
own country.

The Irish had, to the close of this campaign, made the most noble
exertions in defence of their religion and country. They had to con-
tend, not only against the English, but also against domestic enemies,
without any hope of assistance, so that the country was devastated and
exhausted of men and provisions, particularly Munster, which had been
for a long time the theatre of the war. Most of the noblemen in that
province were obliged to submit to their enemies. Florence M'Carty,
seeing the necessity of yielding to the times, followed the example of
the rest. Their submission, however, was but a sort of truce, while
waiting for the arrival of the Spaniards.

Anno 1601. Don Martin Lerda was sent to Ireland by the king of
Spain, in the beginning of this year. He brought two vessels laden with
arms, ammunition, and money. This small succor, which seemed to give
omen of greater, was sent to O'Neill ; and his Catholic majesty sent
word to this prince, that he would immediately furnish him with troops,
and every thing necessary to carry on the war. The vessels being

688 SPANISH AU>.

arrived in the Bay of Kilibegs, near Donegal, O'Neill divided the
resources he received with the confederates, particularly with those
of Munster. A gleam of hope seemed to revive the fallen spirits of the
Catholics. They met, and deliberated together ; and the Earl ol
Clanrickard, who was at that time the only nobleman in Connaught
attached to the queen's cause, began to espouse the interest of the
confederates.

The invaders heard of this with great consternation, and sent to the
queen, demanding additional supplies of men and money. The queen
wrote to her deputy, authorizing him to grant to the entire south of
Ireland a general amnesty. Deputy Mountjoy, however, seemed to
disregard these suggestions, and, entering on a northern tour of destruc-
tion, destroyed more and more of the country, and exasperated the
people to the highest pitch.

The deputy left Dublin, in May, for Drogheda, proceeded to Dun-
dalk, and on the 8th of June passed through Moyri, where he had a
fort built, which he garrisoned. Having left his camp at Fagher, on
the 14th, he passed through Newry, and on the 15th entered Iveagh,
the country of the Magennises. While Sir Richard Morrison was taking
the city of Down, the deputy entered Dundrum, which was given up
to him by Felim M'Evir, to whom it belonged. This nobleman
having made his submission, his example was followed by M'Car-
tane of DufFerin, and M'Rory of Killiwarlin. The deputy, having
ended his tour through Iveagh, where he took some castles without
meeting any resistance, returned to Newry, from whence he sent
orders to Sir Henry Danvers, commander of Mount Norris, to seize
upon the abbey of Armagh, and put an English garrison into it ; but
Danvers failed in the attempt. He was repulsed by the garrison, and
forced to abandon his enterprise.

On hearing of Danvers's ill success in his expedition against Armagh,
the deputy marched towards Mount Norris, where he was joined by
the garrison. Having abandoned the neighborhood of Newry, he then
marched his army towards Armagh. On the 13th of July, he
arrived on the banks of the Blackwater, which he crossed the day fol-
lowing, unopposed by O'Neill, who had his army posted in a wood
near the river. It was his design to avoid an engagement, and remain
on the defensive, till the succors which he expected from Spain should
arrive. On the I6th of the same month, the deputy sent Sir Chris-
topher St. Laurence's regiment to the castle of Benburb, where it was
attacked by the advanced guard of O'Neill ; they fought briskly for

FALL OF DESMOND. 6S&

three hours, within view of the Enghsh camp, though St. Laurence,
having received fresh assistance from that quarter, was superior in force.
O'Neill got the worst of this hattle, and retreated. At this time, the
deputy issued a proclamation from the queen, that her majesty would
not grant any terms to O'Neill, and that whosoever would take him
alive, should receive two thousand pounds reward, or one thousand for
his head.

The great Desmond, having lost his entire army, was taken by Fitz-
gibbon, in a cavern, and given up to the English, who sent him to the
Tower of London, where, after seven years' imprisonment, he died.

The deputy crossed the Blackwater in August, and proceeded to-
wards Dungannon ; but the frequent skirmishes he had to maintain against
the troops of O'Neill, forced him to direct his march towards Armagh.
Danvers was ordered, with three hundred men, to burn a village that
lay in their march, but was driven back by O'Neill's troops, and pur-
sued to the English camp, in spite of the succors that were sent to him.
Some days after this, the Irish advanced with a design of attacking the
enemy in their camp ; but the deputy, being apprized of it, placed four
hundred men in ambush, who, falling on them in flank, killed several of
them, and amongst the number, Peter Lacy, Lord of BrufF, in the
county of Limerick.

Such was the state of things about the end of August, 160L Mun-
3ter had no longer any leaders after the imprisonment of Florence
M'Carty and James Fitzthomas, who were the centre of their union.
The people of Leinster were broken down ; Connaught was unable to
attempt any thing, and the only resources of the country lay in O'Neill
and O'Donnel, whose forces were too few to stand against the English
and the unfaithful sons of Ireland. In a word, the country was ex-
hausted of men and means, from having sustained, for many years, the
burden of a war, while waiting for assistance that came too late.

Reports were spread at this time, that a Spanish fleet, with troops
for Ireland, was at sea ; which becoming known to the council of Eng-
land, reenforcements were immediately ordered for Ireland. Philip the
Third, king of Spain, was eager to perform the promises that were held
out to the princes O'Neill and O'Donnel. For this object, he assem-
bled what troops were necessary for the expedition, and gave the
command of them to Don Juan del Aquila, a man well experienced in
war. As soon as the fleet had got into the open sea, it was dispersed
and separated by a violent storm. One part of it, consisting of seven
ships, laden principally with artillery and other warlike stores and provis-
87

690 AID FROM SPAIN.

ions, was forced, with the vice-admiral, Don Pedro de Zubiaur, to take
shelter in the port of Corunna, in Galicia. The other portion, with Don
Juan and two thousand five hundred infantry, (a small force for so great
an enterprise,) arrived with difficulty in the harbor of Kinsale, on the
23d of September. As soon as the Spaniards had landed, Captain
William Saxeys, who commanded the English troops, withdrew to Cork.
The inhabitants of Kinsale immediately after opened their gates to Don
Juan, who entered and took possession of the town.

Don Juan was not secure at Kinsale, where he was, in fact, in need
of every thing : so he wrote to Spain, by the fleet that was returning,
and gave an account to the king, his master, of his voyage, and of the
supplies he wanted. The Spanish general found none (except O'Sulli-
van) among the Catholics of Munster inclined to assist him. Some had
been imprisoned, others gave hostages as a guaranty for their loyalty,
and others opposed the cause of their country, so that there was none
but O'Sullivan, Prince of Bearre and Bantry, who could make any
attempt in favor of the Spaniards. The deputy waited in Cork for the
return of the officers who had been sent to Leinster, Connaught, and
the garrisons in Ulster, to collect the government forces, which aniounted
to about seven thousand six hundred men, comprising those of Munster.
The English general marched with his army towards Kinsale, having
changed his camp two or three times. The months of October and
November were spent in skirmishing, the Spaniards making frequent
sallies, and the English driving them back ; the latter, if we can credit
their historians, being always successful. The account, however, of a
contemporary writer (Peter Lombard) is different. According to him,
the Spaniards fought valiantly, during the day, in defending their walls,
and by night they sallied forth, killing the sentinels and advanced guards
of the English, and carrying off their cannon ; by which means, con-
tinues he, the loss of the English always exceeded that' of the Spaniards.
Even could we suppose that the English had the advantage, the great
disproportion in numbers between the besieged and besiegers would tend
to lessen their boasted advantages considerably. The English appeared
hefore Kinsale with seven thousand six hundred men ; their army was
increased, soon after, to eight thousand, a reenforcement having been
brought from England by the loyal Earl of Thomond. Tl)e English
artillery was numerous, and skilfully worked ; their camp abounded
with provisions ; Captain Button guarded the mouth of the harbor till
the arrival of an English squadron often vessels, under Admiral Richard
Levison, who were incessantly pouring broadsides on the town, while

FURTHER AID FROM SPAIN. 691

the army attacked it by land ; and still the siege of Kinsale lasted from
the 17th of October to the 9th of January following.

Vice-Admiral Don Pedro Zubiaur, who was forced by a storm to
touch, with his seven ships, at Corunna, in Galicia, arrived on the coast
of Ireland, December 3d. This officer entered a harbor called Cuan-
an-caislon, (in English, Castle Haven,) in Carbry, about twenty miles
from Kinsale, where they were kindly received by five brothers of the
O'Driscols, to whom the country belonged, and who gave him up one
of their castles.

The news of the Spaniards having arrived at Castle Haven being
spread, the deputy commanded Admiral Levison to engage them. With-
out losing a moment, he sailed with six ships and some troops on board.
Having reached Castle Haven, he found the Spanish vessels unguarded
by their crews, who were sleeping, and fatigued after a long voyage.
The Spaniards, being roused by the cannon of the English, which began
to play upon their ships and upon the castle, returned, though in a con-
fused manner, the fire with their artillery, and supported an engagement
during two days, in which the English lost five hundred and seventy-
five men.

The English admiral, not succeeding to his wishes in his attack upon
their vessels, was about to land his troops, and attack the Spaniards
who were on shore ; but from this he was deterred by seeing them reen-
forced, by the Prince of Bearre, with five hundred men, all ready to
oppose him. He immediately sailed from Castle Haven for Kinsale,
where he vainly boasted of having been successful in his expedition.
Many of the surrounding nobility took up arms to join the Spaniards;
the principal among whom were Finin O'Driscol and several others of
the same name ; the M'Cartys of Carbry ; Donnal O'Sullevan Bearre ;
the eldest son of O'Sullevan More j Donnal M'Carty, son of the Earl
of Glancar, and other branches of the M'Cartys of Desmond ; the
O'Donavans and O'Mahonys of Carbry ; John O'Connor Kierry ; the
Knight of Kerry, and others.

During the expedition of Levison at Castle Haven, a Scotch vessel
entered the harbor of Kinsale. This ship was separated at sea from the
Spanish fleet, and had eighty Spanish soldiers on board. The com-
mander informed Vice-Admiral Preston, and treachero^isly surrendered
to him his cargo.

The princes of Ulster did not forget their promises to Don Juan del
Aquila. They used every exertion to march to the relief of Kinsale.
The distance was about eighty leagues, and the roads very bad from

692 AID FKOM ULSTER.

the continual rains. O'Donnel marched first with his army, amounting
to two thousand six hundred infantry and four hundred cavahy.

The news of O'Donnel's march alarmed the English. The lord
deputy summoned a council to deliberate on measures for intercepting
this prince's communication with Munster ; and the president, Carew,
was appointed to this trust. He set out, accordingly, with four thousand
five hundred infantry and five hundred cavalry, and advanced towards
Ormond, where O'Donnel was to pass. After a march of a few days,
he stopped at Ardmail, to the north of Cashel. O'Donnel had already
entered the county of Tipperary, through Ikerin, the country of the
O'Meaghers, and encamped at Holy-Cross, not far from Ardmail,
where the president was stationed. The Prince of Tirconnel wished to
avoid fighting, and, to deceive the enemy, he lighted a number of fires in
the camp, and began his march before day. He took his route through
Slieve Phelim, along the side of the Shannon, and got into the county
of Limerick, thi-ough the defiles of the Abbey of Owney, and from thence
to the districts of the O'Moel Ryans, and reached the Casde of Crome,
which was twelve miles farther on ; so that, on a calculation, he marched,
in one day, thirty-two miles — a very arduous exploit for an army followed
by their baggage. The president, being informed of O'Donnel's move-
ment, marched with his forces the same day, and crossed the country as
far as the Abbey of Owney, for the purpose of intercepting him ; but,
understanding that he had passed the defiles of Connillo, he gave up the
pursuit, and returned to the camp at Kinsale, taking a shorter route, in
order to be before O'Donnel, to prevent any communication between
him and the Spanish garrison.

Prince O'Neill set out from Tyrone, in the month of November, at
the head of about three thousand men, to assist the Spaniards. O'Neill,
on his maich through the county of Meath, met some opposition from
the Anglo-Irish ; Darcy, the Lord of Plattin, being killed in the skirmish.
He continued his march, however, and on the 8th of December he
arrived in the county of Cork, within a few leagues of the English
camp. O'Donnel was expecting him in the district of Kinel Meaky,
and these two princes encamped together, on the 2 1st, between Cork
and Kinsale, within a league of the English army.

The united forces of O'Neill and O'Donnel amounted to six thousand
Irish, besides three hundred Spaniards, who had come from Castle
Haven, under the command of O'Sullevan of Bearre and Don Alphonso
de la Campo. Their object was not to attack the English, who were
fifteen or sixteen thousand strong, a disproportion in numbers far too

FALL OF KINSALE. 693

great. Some skirmishing battles were now fought, which it would be
tedious to relate.

The English, having nothing more to fear from the Irish army,
returned to their camp before Kinsale, and made great rejoicings for
their victory. The noise of their firing induced Don Juan to march a
part of the garrison to assist (as he thought) the reenforcement he was
expecting, and which he imagined was engaged with the English.
Seeing his error, however, he marched back into the town. It is
worthy of remark, that the Spanish commander of Kinsale, whether
from his having a knowledge of an action being fought near the town,
or not, did not lead out his troops, as had been previously agreed upon
between him and O'Neill. But a concerted action between the Span-
iards in the garrison and the Irish having failed, whereby O'Neill lost
twelve hundred men, he judged it most prudent to retire to Ulster.

Whilst the English were vigorously pushing forward the siege of
Kinsale, Hugh O'Donnel, after giving the command of his troops to his
brother Roderick, embarked for Spain with Redmond Burke, Hugh
Mostian, and others. Don Juan, not finding himself equal to hold out
any longer, sent, on the last day of December, a letter, by his drum-
major, offering to capitulate, which proposal was accepted by the
English general, who immediately despatched Sir William Godolphin
to treat with the Spanish commander upon the articles of surrender, the
principal of which were, that Don Juan should give up to the deputy
every place which he was in possession of in the province of Munster,
viz., Kinsale, Castle Haven, Baltimore, Bearhaven, and Dunboy, and
that the deputy should furnish transport vessels to convey Don Juan to
Spain, together with his forces, arms, ammunition, artillery, money, Stc,
and with colors flying. This capitulation was signed on one part by
Don Juan, and on the other by the deputy, the president of Munster,
the Earls of Thomond and Clanriccard, Richard Wingfield, Robert
Gardiner, George Bourchier, and Richard Levison.

The surrender of Kinsale had different effects on the Irish and
the Enfrlish. The latter were disgusted with the siege ; independently
of the inclemency of the season, it being the month of January, they
had provision for only six days ; their treasury was exhausted, their war-
like stores worn out, and their artillery not fit for effecting a breach.
Nearly half of the English army, which, in the beginning of the siege,
amounted to sixteen thousand men, had fallen, either by the sword of
the enemy or disease. The English fleet in the bay had suffered as
much as the army on land. The deputy, therefore, having consulted

694 NEGOTIATIONS WITH SPAIN.

with his council, considered the capitulation proposed by the Spanish
genera] as the only means of saving the remainder of his army, and
avoiding the disgrace of raising a siege, which had been already so fatal
to him.

On the other hand, the possession of Kinsale was of the first im-
portance to the cause of Ireland; the garrison under Don Juan
amounted to two thousand five hundred men, well provided with ammu-
mtion and provisions, and supported by the garrisons of Bakimore,
Castle Haven, and Bearhaven, so that, from the state of the English, he
might have held out till the arrival of succors from Spain, which would
also have given time to O'Neill and the other Irish princes to assemble
in the spring. The surrender, therefore, of Kinsale and its dependencies,
by shutting out all foreign aid, would necessarily injure the cause they
wished to defend. O'Sullevan Bearre, apprehensive of these conse-
quences, took possession of the Castle of Dunboy, which belonged to
him, but which he had given up as a garrison for the Spaniards on their
arrival in the country. Being determined, therefore, that this fortress
should not be surrendered to the enemy, he got Thomas Fitzmaurice,
Lord of Lixnaw, Donnal M'Carty, Captain Richard Tirrell, and William
Burke, with some troops, into the castle by night, and took possession
of the gates, without committing any hostility towards the Spaniards.
He immediately despatched Dermod O'Driscol to the king of Spain,
entreating of his majesty to be convinced that his motives were hon-
orable in the taking of Dunboy, and complained vehemently, in his
letter, of the capitulation which Don Juan had entered into with the
English, calling it wretched, execrable, and inhuman.

O'Donnel, who had sailed for Spain after the battle of Kinsale, was
received, on his arrival at Corunna, in Galicia, with every mark of dis-
tinction, by the Count de Caracena. O'Donnel, having recovered from
his fatigues, took leave of his host, who presented him with a thousand
ducats. He then continued his route, and, having arrived at court, was
received by the king and all his courtiers. His majesty gave the neces-
sary orders for an expedition to Ireland, and the troops intended for it
began to march towards Corunna.

Don Juan de Aquila, the Spanish general, was still in Ireland ; he
sailed, however, with the remainder of his forces, from Kinsale for Spain,
on the 16th of Mai-ch, with a fair wind. On arriving at Corunna, being
suspected of having acted dishonorably in Ireland, he was arrested by
order of the king, and confined to his own house, where he soon after-
wards died of grief. The suspicions formed against Don Juan were

THE WAR IN ULSTER.

695

founded on the facility with which he surrendered to the English Kin-
sale, and the other towns in which the Spaniards were ; also on the
friendliness of a correspondence which he kept up with the deputy and
Carew, and the reciprocal presents that were made between them ; and
finally upon his having furnished passports to the English, who went
from Ireland to Spain, under pretence of trading, but who, in reality,
were spies, that brought home an account of all that was passing in
Spain, relative to the affairs of Ireland ; on proof of which, an English
officer, called Walter Edney, was arrested at Corunna. He had freight-
ed a vessel at Cork for Spain, and was provided with a letter of intro-
duction and presents from the deputy to Don Juan ; but, the latter
having already fallen into disgrace, the deputy's plan was defeated ; the
Count de Caracena profited by the presents that were sent, and his
letters, passports, and papers, were forwarded to the Spanish court.

Pope Clement the Eighth wrote a letter at this time to Hugh O'Neill,
Prince of Tyrone, complimenting him on the confederacy which he had
established among the Irish princes, for the defence of the Catholic
religion.

The English deputy, having ended his campaign in Munster, set out
for Dublin, appointing Sir Richard Percy counsellor for that province.

The English troops in Ireland, A. D. 1602, amounted, notwithstand-
ing their losses in the late campaign, to seventeen thousand infantry, and
a thousand five hundred cavalry. The deputy, after having reviewed
them, put them into convenient garrisons till the next campaign.

In the beginning of June, the deputy assembled his forces, and
marched into Ulster, where he got a bridge built over the Blackwater,
with a fort, which he called Charlemont, after his own name, and in
which he placed Captain Caulfield, [the ancestor of the present Earl of
Charlemont,] with a garrison of a hundred and fifty men. He sent the
regiment of Sir Richard Morrison to make themselves masters of Dun-
gannon ; but the inhabitants of the place, on the approach of the English,
set fire to it, and reduced it to ashes, together with the beautiful Castle
of Tyrone. The deputy repaired thither with the remainder of his army,
where he was joined by Dockwra.

The Prince of Ulster withdrew to Castle Roe, on the River Bann.
The Eno-lish laid the whole country waste, as far as Inniskillen ; they
made themselves nsasters of Magherlowny Isle, where O'Neill had a
magazine ; and took another island, in which they found three pieces
of English cannon, Dockwra, who commanded a garrison at Ony,
received orders to harass O'Neill in Dungeven, in Araghty Cahan ;

696

THE WAR IN MUNSTER.

while Chichester, who led the troops from the garrison of Carrickfergus,
brought the regiment of Morrison to occupy Toome, and the deputy
himself guarded the road to Killetro ; but in spite of these plans, and
the great superiority of the enemy, O'Neill, with six hundred foot and
sixty horse, marched from Castle Roe, and reached Lough Earne unmo-
lested. Being incapable of resisting the enemy openly, he remained on
the defensive ; for which purpose he chose an inaccessible spot, called
Gleannchonkein, near Lough Earne, where he intrenched himself in a
manner that left him nothing to fear. The deputy, hearing of this, con-
tented himself with ravaging the surrounding country, and with breaking,
at Talloghoge, the stone which was used as the inauguration seat of
the O'Neills.

The lord deputy, satisfied with his exploits in the north, repaired to
Newry on the 11th September, whence he set out for Dublin, leaving
Ulster to the care of Dockwra, Danvers, and Chichester. Chichester
executed his commission with such cruelty, through Ulster, that a famine
was the consequence. Cox says, " Children were seen to feed upon the
flesh of their mothers, who died of hunger," and adds that " the famine
in Jerusalem was not more severe than what the rebels suffered on this
occasion."

Notwithstanding that Don Juan del Aquila surrendered to the Eng-
lish the towns which he held in Munster, the inhabitants did not give
up their arms, holding still the hope of receiving new succors from
Spain. Those English authors who never let pass any opportunity of
inspiring their readers with contempt for a people that wish to escape
from their tyranny, have filled their writings with such injurious and
insulting statements as should destroy, in the mind of the discerning and
impartial reader, all respect for them. Their language on this occasion .
is as follows : " The rebels spread themselves every where, particularly
through the districts of Carbry, Bearre, Desmond, and Kerry. No
place escapes them ; they have become desperate from their crimes ;
they look upon themselves as children of perdition, and unworthy of her
majesty's pardon." These are phrases in accordance with the imperious
character of the English, who imagine that the world should obey them.
The Irish, whom they thus describe as rebels and children of perdition,
did not seek the clemency of Elizabeth ; they, on the contrary, took up
arms to defend their country against her tyranny and usurpation.

Daniel O'Sullevan, Prince of Bearre, became chief of the Irish league
in Munster, after the surrender of Kinsale, and the retreat of the princes
of Ulster. This prince, illustrious for his virtue and his valor, was in

SIEGE OF DUNBOY. 69t

possession of Dunboy, and omitted nothing to put that fortress into a
state of defence. The nobles who espoused with him the common
cause, were Daniel M'Carty, son of the Earl of Clancar ; Daniel, son
of O'Sullevan More ; Cornelius and Dermod O'Driscol ; Dermod
O'Sullevan ; Dermod, Donagh, and Florence M'Carty, of the family
of M'Carty Riagh ; M'Sweeny ; Donagh O'Driscol, and his brothers.
The Prince of Bearre was also joined by O'Connor Kerry, M'Maurice,
Baron of Lixnaw, the Knight of Kerry, the Knight of Glynn, John Fitz-
gerald, (brother of the earl,) James Butler, (brother to the Baron of
Cahir,) William Burke, Captains Richard M'Geoghegan and Richard
Tirrell. The former was appointed to command the fortress of Dunboy,
the latter to lead the army of observation.

This confederacy caused great alarm to the English. The president,
Carew, ordered her majesty's troops to assemble at Cork ; and the old
and modern Irish, who were loyal to the court party, were also com-
manded to meet. These auxiliaries and the Englisli troops amounted
to more than four thousand men. In March, a detachment of two
thousand five hundred infantry and fifty cavalry was sent under the
command of the Earl of Thomond, who was commanded by the deputy
to scour the countries of Carbry, Bearre, and Bantry ; to burn all the
corn, to take away the cattle, and commit every species of hostility upon
the rebellious inhabitants, but to spare those who surrendered. Tho-
mond, being unable to act against Dunboy, in consequence of Captain
Tirrell's light troops having possession of the mountains of Bearre, took
post temporarily with Captain Flower, in an island called Fuidi or Whid-
dy, in the Bay of Bantry.

The lord president determined to besiege Dunboy, and set out, the
23d of April, from Cork, with more than five thousand men, besides the
body of troops that was under Wilmot, in the county of Kerry. The
English assert that the garrison consisted of one hundred and forty
chosen men. By their valiant defence of Dunboy, they have well
merited the name and character of heroes.

The president proceeded with caution, and, before he began the siege
of Dunboy, resolved to secure the places in his rear. The Irish had
left some soldiers in the Castle of Dunraanus, whom it was deemed
prudent for this purpose to dislodge.

Richard M'Geoghegan, commander of the Castle of Dunboy, is repre-
sented by an English writer as having had an interview, on the great
island where the English troops were then posted, with the Earl of
Thomond. After speaking on the subject in a mysterious manner, he

698 AID FROM SPAIN.

has this passage : " But of this 1 am sure, that the earl's meeting with
him was not without the president's knowledge and allowance ; all the
eloquence and artifice which the earl could use, however, availed noth-
ing, for M'Geoghegan was resolved to persevere in his conduct."

The president was in the habit of resorting to dishonorable means for
seducing those whom he had to fear most amonsfst his enemies. He
met, among the Irish themselves, agents obsequious to his wishes. He
had already sent, through Owen O'Sullevan, a pressing letter to the
cannoniers of Dunboy. These were three in number, two Spaniards
and an Italian, whom O'Sullevan Bearre, when he became master of
the castle, took into his pay. The deputy proposed to reward them
liberally if they would spike the cannon and break the carriages when
the siege should have commenced ; but they proved themselves honora-
ble to their trust, and incapable of being influenced by his bribes.

The president, having failed in the overtures made to the governor of
Dunboy, sent his troops from the great to the lesser island, which was
within about a hundred paces of Bearre, a position that afforded him the
opportunity of viewing more closely the movements of the enemy.

A vessel was sent, in the mean time, by the court of Spain, to Kilmo-
killock, near Ardea, to discover if the Castle of Dunboy still held out.
There were some passengers on board ; among whom was a friar named
James Nelanus, and Owen M'Eggan, who was appointed by the pope
bishop of Ross and apostolical vicar of Ireland. This friar brought
from the king of Spain twelve thousand pounds, to the chiefs of
the confederacy, and some warlike stores, assuring them of further
succor, which was coming. He was sent by the Spanish court
to assure the Irish that the reenforcements intended for Ireland would
be speedily forwarded, and that two thousand troops had already
assembled at Corunna for that purpose. The confederates, trusting to
the promises given them, formed the resolution of supporting the siege
of Dunboy against the English, and forwarded despatches to the king
of Spain, to assure his majesty of their determination. Brien O'Kelly,
and Donogh, son of Mahon O'Brien, sailed on the 15th of June, 1603,
for Spain, with these despatches of the confederates. After this, O'Sul-
levan Bearre sent part of the ammunition that had come from Spain to
strengthen the garrison of Dunboy.

The deputy knew how important it would be to reduce the Castle of
Dunboy. It was the only place of moment which the Irish of
Munster still retained ; it served them as an arsenal and a depot, and
secured the means of holding a communication with Spain. He marched,

GREAT BATTLE AT DUNBOY. HORRIBLE CRUELTY. 699

tbereforGj to within a mile of Dunboy, where his army encamped. Ac-
companied by Wilmot, and a corps of infantry, he proceeded to recon-
noitre the castle, and to seek a platform on which to erect a battery ;
but the musketry of the castle forced him and his attendants to return to
their camp.

The English general, anxious to shelter his troops, and to make the
artillery advance against the castle, caused a trench to be opened. The
work was frequently interrupted by the besieged, who continually sallied
out, and kept up a constant fire from the castle. The English at length
established their trench within a hundred and forty paces of the place.
A battery of five pieces of cannon was then raised, which played upon
the castle, whilst two falconets, placed on a point of land, destroyed the
outworks. The president, in the mean time, sent a hundred and sixty
men to attack Dorsie's Island. There was a small fort in it belonging to
the Irish, and garrisoned by forty men. After a vigorous defence
from the besieged, the English made themselves masters of this fort, and
found in it a few barrels of powder, three pieces of cannon, and some
warlike stores. Four of the besieged were killed in the action, two
were wounded, and the rest made prisoners. These latter were exe-
cuted immediately afterwards, though they had surrendered. The cru-
elty of the English was not confined to the defenders of the castle ;
they massacred, without distinction, all the inhabitants of the island. A
mother and the infant on her breast were murdered ; the children were
barbarously stabbed, and raised, half dead, on pikes, for a spectacle;
others were tied hand and foot, and thrown from the top of lofty rocks
into the sea. This is but a faint description of the cruelties exercised
by the English upon the inhabitants of Ireland — a specimen of the way
in which they reformed the morals of the people.

The English battery played incessantly upon the Castle of Dunboy.
Part of it had already fallen ; and, the besiegers supposing that the
breach was effected, an attack was ordered. They were repulsed, how-
ever, with vigor ; several were killed on both sides, and the English
were forced to retire. The fire from the battery was still kept up, by
which a part of the vault fell in, and drew those that surrounded it into
the ruins. The besiegers entered in crowds upon the breach, and re-
newed the battle, but, as before, without success ; they were driven off
with heavy loss, and hurled from the top of the breach. A third attack
was equally unsuccessful as the two first ; for, after gaining the hall of
the castle, the English ivere forced to abandon it. It will be admitted
that the garrison of Dunboy, which consisted of hut one hundred and

700 GREAT BATTLE AT DUNBOT.

forty-three fighting men, must have been considerably weakened from
the continued assaults of the enemy. It might, indeed, be supposed
that they would easily have been crushed by the overwhelming force of
five thousand men, with a powerful artillery ; and, though the efforts of
the brave Captain Tirrell, with his flying camp, frequently alarmed the
English, they were not sufficient to save the garrison from the unhappy
fate that awaited them.

The president, Carew, seeing the obstinate and determined defence
the Castle of Dunboy maintained, ordered a fourth attack, better planned
than the preceding ones. For this purpose, a body of fresh troops was
chosen, taken by lot from the regiment of the lord president. This body
was to be supported by the remainder of the same regiment, and that
of the Earl of Thomond ; while those of Percy and Wilmot had orders
to hold themselves in readiness to march, both to protect the camp, and
to act with the others if necessary. The English artillery continued to
play upon the castle from five in the morning until nine, when a turret
of the castle, in which there was a falconet which greatly annoyed the
English battery, was seen to fall. However, the firing was kept up still
against one of the fronts of the castle till one in the afternoon, when, the
breach being effected, and the plan of assault fixed upon, the detach-
ment which was to begin the attack advanced. The Irish disputed
the entrance by the breach for a long time, but were at length forced to
yield to the overwhelming numbers of the English, who planted their
standards on one of the turrets. Roused by despair, the besieged re-
newed the battle, and fought with desperation until night, sometimes in
the vaults of the castle, sometimes in the great hall, the cellars, and on
the stairs, so that blood foived in every quarter : several of the besieged
fell during the attack, amongst ichom was ]\TGcoghegan, their com-
mander, whose valor equalled the greatness of his mind and station.
The castle was not yet in the possession of the English ; they returned
to the assault the day following, and, pretending a desire to spare the
further effusion of blood, terms were proposed to the besieged. The
few belonging to the garrison, who escaped the preceding day, having
lost their chief, and being unequal to defend the castle, accepted the
proposed conditions of having their lives spared. Richard M'Geoghe-
gan, the commander, however, although mortally wounded, would not
listen to any terms ; and, seeing the English enter in crowds, he rose
up, though already struggling with death, and, snatching a lighted
match, made an effort to fire a barrel of powder which was placed near
him ; his intention being to blow up both himself and the enemy, rather

FALL OF DUNBOY. 701

than surrender. He was prevented, however, by a Captain Power, in
whose arms he was basely and inhumanly stabbed by the English sol-
diers. M'Geoghegan knew that no confidence could be placed in any
treaty with the English, and preferred to die fighting, rather than sur-
render to men in whose honor he could repose no trust. " The tvhole
nuhiber of the ivard consisted of one hundred and forty-three chosen
fighting men, being the best of all their forces, of the ivhich no man
escaped, but were either slain, executed, or buried in the ruins.'''' This
garrison was not composed of mere mercenary soldiers, taken by lot, but
of men of honor and principle, who willingly laid down their lives, in
defence of their religion and country : the English themselves admit
that so obstinate and resolved a defence hath not been seen loithin this
Tiingdom. They were worthy to have been citizens of ancient Sparta,
from the mode in which they sacrificed themselves for the good of their
country ; and, if their example has not been followed by others, it will
be at least a subject of reproach and self-confusion to those of their
countrymen who took up arms against them. The siege of Dunboy
lasted for fifteen days.

The Spanish army which was intended for the expedition to Ireland
p. mounted to fourteen thousand men. They had assembled at Corunna,
and were ready to sail, when intelligence was received of the fall of
Dunboy ; on which the Spanish court sent orders to the Count de Cara-
cena, sovernor of Corunna, to countermand, for the present, the sailing
of the troops. The queen of England had her emissaries in Spain, who
informed her of all that had occurred. She therefore ordered her fleets
tliat were cruising on the coasts of Spain to be revictualled, and to con-
tinue to watch the motions of the Spaniards till the end of September-;
she also sent two thousand more troops to Ireland, to reenforce the presi-
dent's army in Munster.

The fall of Dunboy did not prevent the Prince of Bearre from still
acting a brave and noble part. Dermod O'Driscol having returned from
Spain, Cornelius, son of O'Driscol More, was sent in his stead to solicit
speedy assistance. In the mean time, the prince and Captain Tirrell
marched with a thousand men into Muskerry, and made themselves
masters of Carraig-na-Chori, Duin Dearaire, and Macrumpe, where
they placed a garrison.

O'Donnel continued still in Spain, where he was actively employed
at court, in behalf of his country. He wrote at this time the following
letter, dated Corunna, to O'Connor Kerry: "The doctor and Dermod
O'Driscol will give you an account of every thing that is passing here.

702 RETREAT OF O'SUIXEVAN BEARRE.

The king sends you money and stores. Believe me, that his majesty
will omit no opportunity to gain Ireland, were it to cost him even the
greatest part of his kingdom. Endeavor to secure this monarch's good
opinion hy your services. I beg that you will inform me of the news
in Ireland, and against whom the queen's forces are now employed."

Soon after this, news arrived of the death of the great O'Donnel,
in Spain.

If the submission of M'Carty of Muskerry was fatal to the Irish
cause in Munster, the news of the death of this great man was still more
disastrous. The confederates of Munster, upon receiving the sad news,
saw themselves deprived of all hope on the side of Spain ; their cour-
age was broken down ; Daniel M'Carty, the Knight of KeiTy, Daniel,
son of O'Sullevan More, and others, sought to be reconciled to the
English government. Captain Tirrell led his troops into Connaught,
which raised the courage of the English, five thousand of whom were
collected, and the command given to Wilmot, with the title of governor
of Bearre. He accordingly led the army to that part of the province,
where he published a proclamation in the queen's name, promising
pardon to all who would abandon O'Sullevan Bearre's standard. This
prince was now forsaken by his allies ; and his Connaught troops having
left him, with their commander, Thomas Burke, to return to their
province, he deemed it more piTident to follow them with the few that
remained, than yield to an inhuman enemy.

On the last day of December, O'Sullevan Bearre, with O'Connor
Kerry, and a few other noblemen, having joined his troops with those
of Connaught, the whole amounting to scarcely four hundred men, set
out upon their march, intending to take refuge with Hugh O'Neill, Prince
of Tyrone. Though his shortest route would have been through
Leinster, still, that province being in the power of the English, who
had their garrisons in every quarter, he determined to gain the Shannon,
in order to reach O'Rourke, Prince of Brefny, through Connaught.
The badness of the roads and scarcity of provisions were not the only
difficulties the Prince of Bearre had to encounter. He was continually
obliged to fight his way with the enemy. We read nothing in history
which more resembles the expedition of Zenophan, and the ten
thousand Greeks, than this retreat of O'Sullevan Bearre.

The prince, having overcome the difficulties of a long and painful
march, arrived, on the 7th of January, in the forest of Brosnach, above
Limerick, near the Shannon, where he encamped with his little army.
He here convened a council of war, to deliberate on the means of

RETREAT OF o'sULLEVAN BEARRE. 7C3

crossing the river ; in which it was decided that a number of boats,
made of osier and the branches of trees, should be constructed for the
troops ; while, in order to prevent them from sinking, they were covered
with skins of horses, provided for the purpose. These boats were used
by the ancient Irish, and were called curraghs. The boats being
completed, they were brought during the night to Portlaughan, on the
banks of the Shannon, opposite to Portumna, and commenced crossing
the river. O'Maily, who went by the first, was upset with ten soldiers,
but the rest reached the opposite shore in safety. On reviewing his
men, O'Sullevan found them reduced to two hundred. He marched,
however, through Galway to Mainech, the country of the O'Kellys,
where he had to contend with fresh enemies. Having met Captain
Malby, an Englishman, Sir Thomas Burke, brother to the Earl of
Clanriccard, and other chiefs, near Aughrim, at the head of a body of
troops superior in number to his own, a battle began between them
with equal animosity ; but Malby, the English general, having been
killed, victory declared in favor of the Irish. O'Sullevan continued
his march to Brefny, where he was honorably received by O'Rourke.

The inhuman butcheries of the English throughout Munster raised a
new confederacy against them, led on by M'Carty, which, after a few
ineffectual efforts, melted away.

This struggle of the inhabitants of Carbry was the last during this
reign that was made, in the province of Munster, in favor of religion
aiid liberty. It was too weak to have succeeded. The M'Cartys,
having failed, solicited pardon from the president, through Captain
Taaffe, and obtained it. Fitzmaurice, with a body of light troops,
defended himself for a long time, in Slieve-Luachra, against the English ;
and was afterwards so fortunate as to redeem his property and title of
Baron of Lixnaw, by his surrender. Thus ended the war in Munster.

Returning to O'Sullevan : He was not the only unfortunate prince
who sought safety with O'Rourke. On his arrival there, he met the
son of William Burke, chief of the noble family of the M'Williams of
Connaught, and Maguire, Prince of Fermanagh. The same fate having
brouo^ht O'Sullevan Bearre and Maguire together, they determined to
have recourse to O'Neill, and induce him to renew the war against the
English. Having, therefore, taken leave of the Prince of Brefny, they
set out, attended by Captain Tirrell and a few cohorts of armed men,
and, notwithstanding the severity of the season and the badness of the
roads, they proceeded as far as the banks of Lake Erne. They were
then obliged to force the several posts belonging to the English, in

704

APPROACHING DEATH OF QUEEN ELIZABETH.

which they were successful. Maguire afterwards got possession of his
principality of Fermanagh.

Whilst the Princes of Bearre and Fermanagh continued victorious
on the banks of Lake Erne, Lord Mountjoy, the deputy, received
intelligence, from England, of the queen's approaching dissolution. The
deputy was alarmed ; he knew the instability of human affairs, par-
ticularly among a haughty and seditious people like the English ; and,
apprehending a change of government, he wished particularly to put an
end to the war in Ireland. O'Neill, Prince of LTlster, was the great
obstacle to a general peace; he still kept up his troops, and continued
on the defensive for some time, expecting foreign aid ; the deputy,
therefore, considered it of importance to gain him over, and made,
through his friends, proposals to him. The terms were flattering ; a
general amnesty was offered to him, and to his allies, with the free
exercise of their religion, and the peaceful enjoyment of their estates,
on condition that they would lay down their arms. O'Neill and
his friends, having accepted the terms that were offered, entered again
into the possession of their inheritances, and enjoyed them for some
years in peace.

A celebrated patent of Queen Elizabeth, addressed to Rory O'Don-
nel. Prince of Tirconnel, is stated to have been granted about this
time ; from the tenor of it, it appears to have been given by the advice
of the lord deputy Mountjoy, and the council of Ireland. It was
written in the Latin tongue, and in Gothic characters. In this patent,
the queen offers to O'Donnel, and a great many noblemen, proprietors
of estates which were held under that prince, a general amnesty and
forgiveness of their crimes. After the different branches of the O'Don-
nels, the chief noblemen, who are named in the act, are, the O'Boyles,
the O'Cahans, the O'Kellys, the O'Galtowes, the O'Crinanes, the
O'Carwels, the M'Nenys, the O'Kennidies, the O'Mulrenins, the
O'Rowartys, the O'Tiernans, the O'Creanes, the O'Dwyers, the
O'Kierans, the O'Moyleganes, the O'Ruddies, the M'Awardes, the
O'Dunneganes, the O'Meallanes, the O'Murrys, the O'Doghartys,
the O'Miaghans, the O'Clerys, the M'Glaghlins, the O'Sheridans, the
O'Cassidys, the O'Cashedians, and many others. This patent, (says
the Abbe M'Geoghegan,) which is in my possession, is dated Dublin,
26th February, about a month before the death of the queen ; it is
sealed with the great seal of England, and signed Philip.

Thus then, the great O'Neill, with a handful of well-disciplined
soldiers, withstood the power of England in the field for

TRroMPH OF o'nEILL, AND PEACE. 705

FIFTEEN YEARS, and Compelled them at last to grant him peace, the
sovereignty of his principality, and perfect freedom for his religion.

Queen Elizabeth died on the 24th of March, anno sixteen hundred
and three. She lived sixty-nine years six months, and reigned
forty-four years four months. Symptoms of rage, insanity, and heavy
affliction, preceded her death.

Robert Naughton, an English writer, gives, in his Regalia Frag-
menta, a true picture of Elizabeth, and ascribes her last afflictions to
the ill success of her arms in Ireland. This Englishman was created
Sir Robert Naughton, secretary of state, and master of the court of
wardens, under James the First. He lived about the period of her
reign, and was deeply conversant in political secrets.

"The war in Ireland, which," he says, "may be styled the distemper
of the reign of Elizabeth, having continued to the end of her life, proved
such an expenditure as affected and disorganized the health and con-
stitution of the princess, for, in her last days, she became sorrowful,
melancholy, and depressed. Her arms, which had been accustomed to
conquer, meeting with opposition from the Irish, and the success of the
war for so long a time becoming not only doubtful but unfortunate,
afflicted her to distraction.

" It may be imagined that England was at the time equal to undertake
and maintain by her resources the war against the Irish. If we take a
close view of the state of things at the period, and the number of troops
in Ireland, as also the defeat at Black Water, (Benburb,) and the ex-
penditure attending the attempts of the Earl of Essex, the reduction of
Kinsale, under General Mountjoy, and of a short time subsequently, we
shall discover, that, in horse and foot, the troops amounted to twenty
thousand men, independently of the naval armaments connected with
them. The queen was obliged to keep up a constant and powerful
fleet, to watch the coasts of Spain, and blockade its harbors, in order to
prevent the succors, which were intended for Ireland, from being for-
warded. The expenses, therefore, attending the wars of Elizabeth
against the Irish, amounted, at least, to three hundred thousand pounds
sterling a year, for fifteen years, which was not half her expenditure in
other quarters — an expense which could not be longer supported with-
out the aid of the public. The frequent letters of the queen, and the
constant requests to General Mountjoy to disband the forces as
speedily as possible, furnish an irrefragable proof to what an extremity
this princess saw hereelf reduced."

Irishmen of the present day! read the admission of this English
89

706 QUEEN Elizabeth's poor law.

secretary of state, and learn from it that England put forth her whole
power against Ireland during this fifteen tears' war, and failed in
subduing the valiant men of that generation. Ireland has broken the
heart of many a British king, and queen, and minister, and deputy.
The last deputy, De Grey, has just returned (July, 1844) from his
futile though outrageous administration of government in Ireland ; and
Sir Robert Peel feels and admits Ireland to be his sole difficulty. Queen
Victoria has no other trouble on earth but Ireland ; and thus we are, at
the end of two hundred and forty years from Elizabeth's attempts, as
unconquered as she found us after four hundred years of previous war
with her ancestors.

Amongst some of the last enactments passed by Queen Elizabeth
was her celebrated poor law act, entitled " The Forty-third of Eliza-
beth." This act gave to the poor a right of maintenance in the land ;
it was rendered necessary by the countless swarms of poor and idle
people, which appeared in England after the breaking up of the monas-
teries. Elizabeth tried all that coercion and cruelty could effect to
punish and banish poverty, but its source lay in the uprooting of the
whole social system, which took place since King Henry's first seizure
of the church property. The poor laws of Elizabeth, for many years,
afforded the people some protection against starvation ; but within the
last twenty years, they have been so altered in their essential powers,
that it is degrading in the extreme to accept of relief under the con-
ditions imposed, which reduces the poor to the degraded condition of
convicted criminals ere they can taste one morsel of food provided by
public charity. These degrading laws have been introduced into
Ireland in latter years, but they have failed to afford any substantia]
benefit to the poor, whilst to the middle classes they prove a heavy and
galling burden.

MUSIC AND POETRY.

707

HURRAH FOR THE STRIPES! HURRAH FOR
THE STARS!

BY T. MOONEY.

I — Tr — I — I ^ — 9 — :j ' 9 ^ r 9'

1. Hur - rah for O' - Con - nell ! Hur

rah

for M'Hafe !

Hur - rah for 0' - Higgins ! a true man of bravery !

-n"

Hurrah for O' - Bri - en 1 Hur - rah for O' - Neill 1 For

they are the fel - lows to lead us from slavery ;

And, should they de - sire, We're rea - dy to fire 1 Our

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long - tom ri - fles with punc

i - ty!

f*a:

With pow - der and steel We'll bat - ter down Peel, And

give back to E - rin her

708

MUSIC AND POETRY.

*5^-F-

Then high for the stripes ! Hur - rah for the stars ! Hur -

rah for this land of true hos - pi - tal - i - ty !

a=^3=?j

Ed-^

Hurrah for the Bal - ti - more chp - pers and tars ! They'll

|g=i=a

help us to win back our na - tion - al - i - ty !

Should Victoria go over

From Bristol or Dover,
They'll meet her with friendship, without formality;

And, ere she goes back,

They'll teach her the knack
Of treating her friends with more hospitality.

It's true she looks shy

On her neighbors that's nigh,
And wanders abroad for fun and frivolity;

But she'll shortly find out,

From within and without,
That Erin must have her old nationality.
Then high for the stripes, &,c.

'Tis said that John Bull

Has an obdurate skull.
And is sadly deficient of learning or modesty;

But, with heaven's own hlessin,

We'll teach him a lesson
In morals, and laws, and political honesty.

MUSIC AND POETRY. 709

Let no hero quail,

And no lady fail,
To pay up her dues to the Boston society ;

Let us all come together.

In good or bad weather,
In virtue, in valor, and pure sobriety.
Then high for the stripes, he.

And who is afraid

Of what has been said
By the queen or her ministers in hostility?*

They often talk big,

When they mount the big wig,
And put on the airs of royal gentility;

But Pat, like a block,

Or immovable rock,
Stands firm erect for civil equality ;

He don't care a curse

For their army or purse.
For he's now wide awake to their wicked rascality.
Then high for the stripes, &c.

And we'll meet on some day.

Just in our own way.
North, east, south, and west, in cordiality ;

From the isle of our birth.

To the ends of the earth,
Her children shall strike for her nationality ;

Then shall be unfurl'd,

Throughout the whole world,
The standard of Erin, in brilliant vitality ;

The sunburst of gold.

On green, as of old,
With the harp, the marks of our nationality !
Then high for the stripes, &c.

* The queen's speech denouncing repeal.

710

MUSIC AND POETRY.

Then hurrah for the ladies,

That's willing to aid us
With music and money, in true generosity !

May angels for e'er

Preserve in their care
The hearts that throb for our nationality ;

And O, may they never

From Erin dissever
Their patriot love for her civil equality ;

May they urge on our cause,

With their smiles and applause,
And help us to win back our nationality.
Then high for the stripes 1 &z;c.

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711

THE GATHERING OF LEINSTER.

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That Malachy trampled the foeman.

And Brien uprooted the Dane ?

712 MUSIC AND POETRY.

Ye kings of our isle's olden story,
Bright spirits of demi-god men !

We swear, by the graves of your glory,
To strike like your children again.

Though beside us no more in the trial

The swords of our forefathers wave,
The multiplied soul of O'Nial

Has flashed through our patriots brave.
By each rock where our proud heroes slumber,

Each grove where the gray Druid sung,
No foreigner's chain shall encumber

The race from such ancestors sprung.

Ye swords of the kingly Temora,

Exalt the bright green of your sod ;
The hue of the mantle of Flora;

The Emerald banner of God !
Leave, reaper, the fruits of thy labor ;

Spare, hunter, the prostrated game.
Till the ploughshare is wrought to a sabre

To carve out this plague-spot of shame.

Rush down from the mountain fortalice ;

From banquet, and bridal, and bier;
From ruin of cloister, and palace ;

Arise, with the torch and the spear !
By the ties and the hopes that we cherish,

The loves and the shrines we adore,
High Heaven may doom us to perish —

But, never to slavery more!

MUSIC.

713

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LECTURE XVII.

FROM A. D. 1603 TO 1691

James the First. — New Confiscations. — Gunpowder Plot. — Guy Fawkes. —
London Monument. — Persecution of the Irish Catholics. — The Puritans. —
Plot against the O'Neills and O'Donnels. — Seizure of Ulster. — Mode adopted.

— Parliament of James the First. — Charles the First. — The " Fifty-one Graces."

— Perfidy of the King. — Beginning of the Scotcli War. — The Presbyterian
Worship.— " Irish Rebellion of 1641." — First Outrages on the Catholics. —
Strafford. — Plot to exterminate the Catholics. — Catholic Confederation. — Eng-
lish Evidences. — Order to kill all the Papists. — Indiscriminate Massacre. —
Resistance of the Catholics. — The King sends Commissions to the Catholics. —
Temporary Peace. — The King's Dispute with the Parliament. — John Hampden.

— Oliver Cromwell. — King Charles taken Prisoner. — His Trial and Death. —
Government of Thirty-nine. — New Reformation. — New Sects. — Fanaticism. —
War renewed against the Irish. — Second Battle of Benburb. — No quarter for
the Irish. — Cromwell invades Ireland. — Massacre at Drogheda. — Blasphemous
Letter of Cromwell. — Massacre at Wexford. — Cromwell repulsed at Dungan-
non. — Repulsed at Clonmel. — Heroism of a Catholic Bishop. — Cromwell
baffled. — Returns to England. — Ireton commands. — O'Connell's Sketch of
Cromwell. — Shocking Cruelties. — Immense Confiscations. — Cromwell assumes
the Throne. — Calls Parliaments. — His Death. — Recall of Charles the Second.

— Change in the Religion of the State. — "Act of Settlement." — Lenity of the
Catholics. — Ingratitude of the King. — Calumnious Pamphlets. — Vacillation of
the King in Religion. — His Death. — James the Second. — Discharges from
Prison Catholics and Quakers. — Proclaims Liberty of Conscience. — The High
Chifrch Party oppose him. — Trial of the Seven Bishops. — The Irish Par-
liament.— Intrigue against King James. — Invasion of William. — Flight of
James. — Affairs in Ireland. — A grand Irish Army raised. — Return of James
to Ireland. — Siege of Derry. — James's Defeat in Derry. — His Imbe-
cility.— The Battle of the Boyne. — Flight of James. — Defeat of the Irish.

— Siege of Athlone. — Defeat of the English. — Siege of Limerick. — Heroic
Defence. — Exploit of Sarsfield. — Assault on Limerick. — i Heroic Conduct
of the Women. — Defeat of the Invaders. — King James's bad Management.

— Ginckle marches into Kerry. — Bravery of the Irish. — The Summer of
1691. — Movements of both Armies. — Second Siege of Athlone. — Brave De-
fence. — Heroic Action of twenty Irishmen. — St. Ruth's Joj'. — Fourth Attack
on Athlone. — St. Ruth refuses Aid to the Town. — Sarsfield indignant. — The
Town lost. — Retreat on Aughrim. — Preparations for Battle. — Action begun. —
The Tide of Battle. — The Irish so far victorious. — Joy of St. Ruth. — Disas-
trous Mistake. — St. Ruth killed. — Change in the Fortune of the Day. —
Irish retreat on Limerick. — Remarks on the Battle. — Sarsfield now Chief in

JAMES THE FIRST. GUNPOWDER PLOT. 715

Command. — Second Siege of Limerick. — Proposal of Peace from Ginckle. —
Accepted. — The Treaty of Limerick. — Irish Commanders in this War :
O'Neill, O'Reilly, O'Callaghan, Magennis, M'Mahon, O'Gara, Grace, O'Connell,
O'Higgins. — List of Officers killed and wounded — Burke, O'Brien, Dillon,
O'Regan, and several other Officers. — Future Dispositions. — Irishmen in for-
eign Service. — Sarsfield.

On the death of Queen Elizabeth, the crown of England de-
scended on the head of James the Sixth of Scotland, anno 1603.
He was the son of the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots ; and the
crowns of both nations uniting in him, he was, by law, king of Eng-
land and Scotland.

James was a pedant — a learned but not an instructed prince. In
religion, he was a rigid Presbyterian. The Duke of Sully said he was
the wisest fool in Europe. Wade says, " He was weak, mean, and
pusillanimous ; the strong feature of his character was insincerity^'

On his accession to the throne, he promised toleration to all religions ;
but he soon gave indications that he would not adhere to that promise.
He brought with him from Scotland many political adventurers, who,
under pretence of making a further and a purer reformation in religion,
began a new persecution, and a further series of confiscations.

In the latter end of Elizabeth's reign, she relaxed somewhat in ex-
tracting fines from the Catholic gentry, who refused to conform to her
worship. These fines fell into arrear ; but the agents of James hunted
them up and levied on such estates as had fallen into debt to the
crown. A new reformation then commenced ; the estates of the
non-believers were all forfeited, and divided amongst the hungry fol-
lowers of the king ; and then came the conspiracy, called the gun-
powder plot ; this was concerted by William Catesby, a gentleman
of family, and by Guy Fawkes, a soldier of fortune, by Percy, a rela-
tive of the Northumberland family, and by ten others.

The parliament of James was to meet on the 5th of November, 1605 ;
previous to which, two hogsheads and thirty-two barrels of gunpowder
were secreted in the cellar of the parliament-house. It is said that this
was a Popish plot ; it is true some of the conspirators were Catholics,
but it should be remembered there were still some Catholic peers in
this very parliament. It was a plot originating in deep resentment, and
deadly resolve, as the event proved, to destroy by one effort a set of
men who had trampled on the law, and seized upon a large mass of
property, under cover of its outraged authority. Some one of the
conspirators, however, in obedience to a compunctious visiting, intimated
to Lord Monteagle a hint to stay away from the parliament on the

716 GUT FAWKES. LONDON MONUMENT.

appointed day. He communicated his suspicions to others ; the alarm
spread ; the cellar was searched, and the powder there discovered. A
watch was then set ; and long before daybreak, Guy Fawkes was ap-
prehended entering the cellar, carrying a dark lantern, dressed and
booted as for a journey, and three matches were found in his pocket.

Fawkes boldly avowed his object before the privy council, and added
that he was prepared to be blown up in company with the tyrants,
rather than not rid his country of their oppression. Fawkes and the
others concerned were executed ; amongst the sufferers was Elizabeth's
great favorite, Sir Walter Raleigh.

It was on this occasion, that the celebrated anthem of England,
" God save the King," was composed and sung in the churches of
London.

The courtiers of James turned this plot into capital ; they swore it
was a Popish plot, instigated by the court of Rome ; and shortly after
this, the great fire of London taking place, they built the celebrated
monument, to commemorate the preservation of a portion of the city,
the partial destruction of which they ascribed to the Papists.

Alexander Pope has branded the monument with the immortal char-
acter of liar, which will go down to posterity a long way farther than
the monument itself —

" London's column, pointing to the skies,

Like a tall bully, lifts its head, and lies."

On the accession of James to the throne, he had it circulated in
Ireland, that he was tolerant and favorable to the Catholic religion.
It is said he wrote a letter to Pope Clement the Eighth, assuring his
holiness that it was his majesty's intention to become a Roman
Catholic. In one of the works which he has left behind him, he says,
" For myself, if that were yet the question, I would with all my heart
give my consent that the bishop of Rome should have the first seat."

The hopes thus held out to the Irish nation induced them to think
that they could again exercise their religion unmolested ; but in this
they were deceived. James's deputy. Lord Mountjoy, marched a force
into the south of Ireland, and wherever he could discover a cross, or
any building which indicated that the Catholic worship was there cele-
brated, he had that building seized and put into the possession of some
of his followers.

In the reign of Elizabeth, a code of penal laws had been smug-
gled into the Irish parliament. They lay dead, however, for some

PLOT AGAINST THE o'nEILLS AND o'dONNELS. 717

years ;. they were now revived, and all men were called on to conform
to the state religion, and appear on Sundays in the state churches.
The members of the corporatiorl of Dublin were Catholic, and all of
them, but one, refused to attend ; that one was Alderman Archer :
the remainder were fined in various heavy sums of three hundred to
five hundred pounds each.

The old families took alarm, petitioned and remonstrated against this
act, and the gentleman who carried the petition before the privy
council, namely. Sir Patrick Barnwell, was imprisoned.

The most rigid persecution was instituted against Catholics ; yet, not-
withstanding all the persecutions that took place, and, moreover, during
the persecutions of Henry the Eighth, Edward, and Elizabeth, not
more than sixtij of the Irish people embraced the new worship, though
the population was two millions before the reign of Elizabeth.

James himself was neither a Protestant nor a Catholic. He disliked
the Puritans ; and, like all the Stuarts, was ever ready to sacrifice his
friend to the fear of his enemy. At this time, the Puritan party had
acquired an ascendency in the political affairs of Ireland, and very
many of the reformed clergy were inclined to their doctrines ; the most
eminent of those was the celebrated historian, Usher, archbishop of
Armagh, who, by his management, contrived to have the whole doctrine
of Cahin received as the public belief of the church of Ireland, and
ratified by Chichester, the king's lieutenant.

After this came the great plot for entirely subduing such parts of
Ireland as had yet held out against the authority of England. Finding
it compactly told by M'Geoghegan, I adopt his account.

" Cecil, the prime minister of James, a man of considerable talents, but of de.
formed person, together with some others connected with the government, acting
on the weak king's fears, incensed him against the Catholics of Ireland. The in-
strument which Cecil chose to effect his wicked purpose was Christopher St.
Laurence, baron of Howth, generally called the one-eyed, who received instruc-
tions to invite to a secret conference the leaders of the Catholics, in order to
entrap them. The Earls of Tyrone, Tirconnel, baron of Delvin, and some other
Catholics of distinction, appeared at this mysterious meeting ; St. Laurence made
them swear not to divulge what he would communicate to them for their own
safety. He then said, that he had information, through a channel which admitted
of no doubt, that the court of England was determined to eradicate the Catholic
religion out of Ireland, and force them to become Protestants ; that he himself,
from a concern for their safety, advised them to defend themselves against the
threat, until positive assurances would be obtained, that no change would be at-
tempted against their religion. The noblemen present, however, struck with
alarm, unanimously replied, that nothing would shake their loyalty to the prince,

718 PLOT AGAINST THE o'nEILLS AND o'dONNELS.

in whose royal word they reposed every trust, he being their legitimate
sovereign.

" These protestations of loyalty were not sufficient to protect them against St.
Laurence ; he accused them to the king, as capable of forming secret designs
against his majesty and the state, though destitute of means to attempt any thing,
having neither troops on foot nor a hope of receiving succors from Spain. TjTone
and others were summoned before the council. The Catholics declared that the
accusation was a calumny ; but, seeing themselves confronted by St. Laurence,
they acknowledged that they attended the meeting much less for the purpose of
entering into any plot against the king, than to hear what tliis treaclierous man,
who had brought them together, intended to propose ; whose infamy they had
unanimously condemned on sufficient causes, of which the present is an illustra-
tion. Having been severally examined, and only one witness produced against
them, the council did not think prudent to put them under an arrest, but ordered
them to appear on the day following. During this short interval, some false
friends, who were of the council, advised them underhand to consult their own
safety, stating that one more witness only, who might be easily suborned, was
necessary to convict them. The perfidious advice was but too readily followed by
the Earls of Tyrone and Tirconnel, who quitted Dublin. Upon this, they were
proclaimed rebels, and not only their individual estates, but six whole counties in
the province of Ulster, were confiscated for the benefit of the crown, without
examination or trial. These counties were divided between several English and
Scotch Protestants, under such regulations as were obviously intended to produce
ruin both to the Irish people and their religion. Besides the pecuniary fines tliat
were inflicted, and the other penalties that were enacted against Catholics, it was
specifically inserted in the patents, that no portion of these lands should be sold,
transferred, or farmed, except to and by Protestants exclusively. St Laurence
himself, who had hitherto affected a tendency in favor of tlie Catholic religion,
declared himself a Protestant, and by doing so became a partaker of the spoils.

" This iniquitous proceeding being ended, Hugh O'Neill, earl of Tyrone, Rory
O'Donngl, earl of Tirconnel, Maguire of Fermanagh, and some other noblemen,
crossed over into France. The English ambassador of that court demanded of
Henry the Fourth, that these fugitives should be sent back to the king his master.
The French king, however, generously replied, that it was beneath the dignity of
a monarch to arrest a stranger who seeks to save himself by flight : upon this, the
earls took their departure for Flanders, where they were received with dis-
tinction by the archduke and archduchess, viz., Albert and Elizabeth, who
governed the Low Countries. Thence they proceeded to Rome, where his
Catholic majesty provided abundantly for their support, by pensions proportioned
to their rank."

The young and gallant O'Dougherty, chief of the Inishowen dis-
trict, seeing his countrymen doomed thus to extermination, took up arms
in their defence ; he raised what forces he could, and took some of
the English garrisons in his neighborhood, exhibiting great bravery in
the various assaults ; he kept up a desultory warfare for a few months,
in expectation of aid from some of the friendly powers of the continent,

SEIZURE OF ULSTER. MODE ADOPTED. 719

with whom the great Hugh O'Neill was then in negotiation. O'Dough-
erty, having all the courage, but wanting the skill and caution of the
great O'Neill, was, after five months' fighting with twice his numbers,
killed while leading a charge in battle.

The hopes of Ireland from the north were now totally subdued ; the
heroic leaders were all exiled or killed ; the successes of the English
in Leinster had left that province destitute of a single military leader.

The whole province of Ulster was soon cleared of its old inhabitants
by the sword. King James parcelled out the province to several
companies of Londoners, who sent over from Scotland and from Eng-
land, but principally from Scotland, a new race to plant it.

He contrived to confiscate a great portion of the lands of Leinster
and Munster ; but ere he forced his way to Connaught, death carried
him off. The extermination of nearly a million of the Irish, in the
reign of Elizabeth, by sword and by famine, left the country an easy
prey to James. The form of inquiry into titles of estates was gone
into ; but juries which refused to find a title in the crown were impris-
oned and fined.

To show the shameless means resorted to by James's followers, I
quote from Leland : —

" It was an age of project and adventure ; men's minds were particularly pos-
sessed with a passion for new discoveries, and planting of countries. They who
were too poor, or too spiritless, to engage in distant adventures, courted fortune
in Ireland. Under pretence of improving the king's revenue, they obtained com-
missions of inquiry into defective titles ; discoverers were every where busily
employed in finding out flaws in men's titles to their estates ; tlie old pipe rolls,
and the patent rolls in London, were searched to ascertain the original grants ;
and, as all the Irish descents came by gavelkind, no registry or patent was ever
eo much as thought of by the Irish landowners. He who could not establish his
right by a patent from the crown was dispossessed. The most iniquitous prac-
tices of hardened craelty, of vile perjury, and scandalous subornation, were em-
ployed to despoil the fair and unoffending proprietor of his inheritance."

In O'Connell's Memoir of Saxon atrocity, which substantially begins
at the reign of* James the First. I find many things which I would
transcribe had I room. As the Liberator's book is in the hands
of almost every body, I refer the reader to its incontrovertible pages,
for a narrative of well-attested English cruelty and treachery, such as
disfigure no other page of human history.

Sir John Davies, the English lawyer, sent over by James the First,
to act as attorney-general in Ireland, has borne evidence to the iniquity
of the English invaders of Ireland, from the times of Henry the

720 PARLIAMENT OF J.VMES THE FIRST.

Second, 1172, to his own time, 1610. It appears that Henry the
Second marked out the whole of Ireland as confiscated from the original
inhabitants to himself; that they were deprived of all property in the
land of their fathers, an exception being made in favor of five families
only, who were called, in pleading, persons of the five bloods, — " de
quinque sanguinibus" — namely, the O'Nials of Ulster, O'Melachlins of
Meath, the O'Connors of Connaught, the O'Briens of Thomond, and
the M'Murroughs of Leinster. Henry granted, it seems, some special
charter to the citizens of Waterford, many of whom were Danes, on
condition of remaining loyal to him.

It had been considered lawful, up to this time, for any Englishman to
rob, despoil, or kill an Irishman, or ravish an Irishwoman ; and, if
brought to trial, it was enough to plead, as a defence, that the person
robbed, despoiled, ravished, or murdered, was an Irishman or Irish-
woman, not of the five bloods specially excepted, as above. This was
the law, the justice, and the policy of the invaders for more than four
hundred years. See O^ConneWs Memoir, Casserly's edition, pp. 42,
43, Sic. And, although in James's time, at the recommendation of
Sir John Davies, a seeming effort was made to extend one law to all
throughout Ireland, we shall see the good interit effectually frustrated
by the evergrowing antipathy, jealousy, or covetousness, of the Eng-
lish adventurers.

In this reign, the first general parliament, since the English invasion
and the fall of Tara, was held in Ireland. To fill this parliament
with Englishmen, King James created, in one day, forty boroughs, on
each of which he conferred the right of electing two members, which
right lay in the votes of thirteen only of the burgesses, whose chief
qualification was the public profession of the Protestant faith. Sir John
Davies was the speaker of this house. From such an assembly, it may
readily be supposed, the Irish, who still adhered more fixedly than ever
to the Catholic faith, experienced the excruciating torture of a burning
stream of injustice, rendered the more galling by its emission under the
forms of law.

Charles the First, son of James the First, succeeded to the throne of
England, anno 1625. He, like his father, began his reign with
promises of toleration. In religion, he was an Episcopalian, and en-
deavored to force Episcopacy on the Scots, which attempt they resisted
successfully in the field, and compelled him to relinquish. To the
Catholics of Ireland he was insincere.

In 1628, Lord Faulkland, his deputy in Ireland, advised the

CHARLES THE FIRST. THE FIFTY-ONE " GRACES." 721

Catholics to send agents to England, to make a tender of their services
and pecuniary support to the king, with a view to be relieved from the
fines imposed on those who refused to conform to the new worship.
The Catholics, therefore, sent over their agents with an offer of one
hundred and thirty thousand pounds, then deemed a considerable sum :
the king accepted the money, granting letters of grace towards them,
which insured them freedom of their religion, the trial of all dis-
putes and claims by respectable juries, the enjoyment of their prop-
erties undisturbed, and a limitation of the title of the crown to their
lands, promising likewise to have these rights confirmed by parlia-
ment : to these conditions were given the name " king's graces."

The king took the first two instalments, amounting to one hundred
thousand pounds, but never called the parliament to sanction the royal
promise ; and thus he cheated them, in a most shameful manner, out of
their money.

These " graces " consisted of fifty-one articles ; and, if honestly
adhered to by the English parliament, the Catholics would, under all
the circumstances, have been safe in the exercise of their religious wor-
ship, and secure in the enjoyment of their properties.

The Liberator, in his able memoir, has the following passage on the
" graces ; "' —

*' Thus the Irish, and especially the Catholic Irish, in order to obtain the con-
firmation oi' their titles to their own estates against an objection in its veiy
nature frivolous and unjust, had, in 1628, agreed to pay, and actually did pay, one
hundred and twenty thousand pounds to the king ; and, in 1634, the parliament I
have spoken of, composed of Catholics and Protestants, granted supplies doubling
in amount the expectation of the lord deputy, who gave thereon the most em-
phatic promise that the graces should be immediately conceded.

« Is it credible that, all this time, this very lord deputy had determined these
concessions should not be granted ? that the people's money should be obtained
under a false pretence, and no value given ? that tlie plighted honor — the honor
of Protestant England — should be pledged to Catholic Ireland, and should be
pledged only to exhibit another instance of shameless knavery, another most
disgraceful breach of public faith ? Why, in its own nature, it is incredible ;
TET IT IS LITERALLY TRUE, as may be seen from Strafford's, the deputy's, letters,
and the king's reply ^ first, the passage from the deputy's letter, addressed to
Secretary Coke : —

" ' Both houses have, during this sitting, likewise extremely pressed for the
graces, especially the law existing in England, for threescore years' possession
to conclude the rights of the crown ; and, in the lower house, none so earnest as
Fingal and Ranalagh, urging his majesty's promise at every turn. The commons
have named a committee to attend the chancellor. * * * * So as consider-
91

722 PERFIDY OF THE KING AND HIS DEPUTY.

in^ that many of these graces are hy no means to pass into laws, and not fore-
seeing what inconvenience miglit fall upon his majesty, if these pressures were
suffered to go on too far, I consulted these two judges, and Sir George Radcliffe,
how we might incline the board to give them the negative answer, and take it off
the king, which, on Thursday last, I effected, being, in good faith, very excellently
assisted at the table by tJie.m all three, so as now we are resolved not only privately
to transmit our humble advices upon every article of the graces, but on Tuesday
next, to call this committee of the commons before us, and plainly tell them, that
we may not, with faith to our master, give way to transmitting of tliis law of three-
score years, or any other of the graces prejudical to the crown ; nay, most humbly
beseech his majesty they may not be introduced to the prejudices of his royal
rights, and clearly represent unto the king, that he is not bound, either in justice,
honor, or conscience, to grant them ; and so, putting in ourselves mean betwixt
them and his majesty's pretended engagements, take the hard part wholly from his
majesty, and bear it ourselves as well as we may.' — Strafford^ 279, 280.

" It may be supposed, that Charles was no party to this villanous duplicity.
Alas, alas for poor human nature ! and alas for royal nature, too ! Pause and
read his reply : tlie king thus writes to Strafford : —

" ' Wentworth, before I answer any of your particular letters to me, I must tell
you, that your last public despatch has given me a great deal of contentaient, and
especially for keeping off the envy (odium) of a necessary negative from me of
those unreasonable graces that people expected from me.' — Stafford's State Let-
ters, Vol. I. p. 321.

" Both these men lost their heads upon the scaffold. Strafibrd was a consum-
mate political villain ; Charles was spoiled by his education and his advisers ; but
Ireland suffered, without any compensation, from the deliberate villany of the one
and the regal treachery of the other." — CConnelPs Memoir, p. 179, Casserly's
edition.

As for Strafford's grand scheme for confiscating the entire province
of Connaught, by the estabhshment of juries to inquire into the king's
title to all the lands in the country, beginning with the county Ros-
common, and his barefaced mode of bribing judges and jurors, or fining,
imprisoning, branding with hot irons, such jurors as refused to find for
the king, I refer the reader to his letters, quoted at copious length in
O'Connell's Memoir, p. 187.

To the people of England, King Charles the First proved a vacil-
lating, absolute king, attempting to tax them by the force of bis will
alone, almost scorning the sanction of parliament. The house of
commons containing many Puritan members, these opposed the king
in any endeavor of his to establish Episcopacy. They held con-
stant communication with the Presbyterians of Scotland. A book
of common prayer, composed by the king and council, for Scotland,
was ordered to be read in the churches of Edinburgh, by his majesty's
command. The Dean of Edinburgh, in his surplice, undertook this

PRESBYTERIAN WORSHIP. ASSAULT ON THE CATHOLICS. T23

duty, but was assaulted by some person who flung a stool at him ; a
mob was gathered, and the life of the dean was threatened. Imme-
diately the Scots entered into the memorable compact, called the
Covenant, which they compelled all people to subscribe. Archbishop
Spottiswood, and several other archbishops, fled to England. The
Scots formed themselves into four tables, as they termed it, to regulate
their affairs ; all their political concerns were managed at their devotions,
which imparted an extraordinary share of frenzy to their proceedings.
The Marquis of Hamilton came from England, by the king's commands,
to dissolve their convention ; but they continued to sit, in defiance, and
appointed a Mrs. Mitchelson to preside over their deliberations, who
affirmed that God spoke through her mouth. This mixture of fanaticism
and national spirit gathered into an immense, infuriate storm ; and
although Charles sent twenty thousand men against the Scots, he was,
after some hard-fought battles, and many defections from his standard,
compelled to grant them the most unlimited terms. The Presbyterian
worship was then established as the national worship of Scotland, and
has remained so, with some modification, to the present time.

Passing over many of the events of this reign in Ireland, I come
rapidly to what is called the "rebellion and massacre of 1641." The
Catholics tried, by grants to the king, and by declarations of loyalty, to
obtain liberty to enjoy their religious worship in peace. Hitherto,
since the reign of Elizabeth, they paid a fine of twelve pence per week
each, for refusing to attend the English church service. Twelve pence
of those days were equal to three or four times the amount in the money
of the present ; from which, we may form an opinion of the extent of
their sacrifices ; and yet Lord Wentworth (Earl of Strafford) says of this
fine, " As a matter of revenue, it should be continued ; but," adds he, " if
it be held to, for that which it was intended, which was, to bring the
Irish to a conformity in religion, it would come to nothing, and would
prove a covering narrower than a man could wrap himself in."

Such is the opinion, put on record, as to the inflexible adherence of
the Irish to their religious opinions, by the very best authority ; namely,
the chief persecutor in the trying ordeal.

Charles, who at first appeared disposed to favor the free worship of
the Roman Catholics, receded all at once from this position, through the
intimidation of the Puritans, and from the meanness of his own nature.
When he had got upwards of one hundred thousand pounds from the
Catholics, he dropped his lenient tenderness for their consciences. Soon
the system of terrorism recommenced. The Archbishop of Dublin and

724 LEGAL ROBBERIES.

the chief magistrate of the city, at the head of a file of musketeers^
entered the CathoHc chapel of Cook Street, on St. Stephen's day, whilst
the congregation were at their devotion. They seized the priest in his
vestments at the altar, hewed down the crucifix, and carried off all the
sacred vessels and ornaments. After the first shock, occasioned by this
unexpected act of violence, was abated, several of the congregation pur-
sued the assailants with stones, and rescued their clergyman.

The representation of this incident to the English council produced
an order for seizing fifteen religious houses for the king's use. The most
rigorous execution of the penal laws was now every where put into
operation ; and the king gave an order that the array should be paid
out of fines levied upon the Catholics who refused to attend the new
worship. He commended the wisdom and energy of his Irish council,
and directed them to "go on, till the work was fully done, as well in the
city as in other places of the kingdom, leaving to their discretion when,
and where, to cany a soft or harder hand ! " — See Carte's Ormond.

Lord Strafford, who had been a member of the opposition, in the
English house of commons, suddenly became a courtier, and won the
confidence of the king so far as to be appointed the lord deputy of Ire-
land, where, on his arrival, he exceeded even the king's cruelty and
dissimulation. He revived the court of inquiry into titles, which bad
been some time laid aside, and confiscated the entire province of Con-
naught. He did this by empanelling juries in each county, the
members of which were heavily taxed, if they refused to find a tide to
the lands in the crown. The jurors who did not so find, were fined four
thousand pounds each, and kept in prison till they paid it ; four shil-
lings in the pound were allowed to the chief justice and chancellor, upon
all the annual value of the estates seized. Such a system of tyranny
was likely to be effective ; and county after county of the province of
Connaught was thus vested in the king.

For nine years this wicked nobleman thus fleeced and persecuted the
people of Ireland, endeavoring by every art to exterminate them.
At length he was suspected and envied by his former party in the Eng-
lish house of commons, who had him impeached, tried, and beheaded.
He defended himself with great eloquence ; but he had proceeded too
far in enforcing Episcopacy on the Irish Puritans, which was his real sin
in the eyes of the parliament of England. He expected, all through,
that the king would pardon him ; yet the king signed his death-warrant
by commission. The night before his execution, he offered twenty-

PLOT TO EXTERMINATE THE CATHOLICS. 725

two thousand pounds to the keeper of the Tower to suffer him to
escape ; but all could not save him.

Returning to the system of plunder and persecution fomented by this
wicked man, — it produced the utmost ferocity, thirst for plunder, and
intolerance, on the side of the Protestant Puritans, and a deadly ani-
mosity and a desire of vengeance in the minds of the Catholics.

Several Catholic priests were at this time put to dealh for merely
exercising the functions prescribed by their church. Thomas Ballaker,
Thomas Holland, Paul Heath, Francis Bell, Henry Morse, Morgan

Philip Powel, Martin Woodcock, Reading, and Whitaker,

were executed in England, under this charge, between the years 1641
and 1646: many priests were also hanged in Ireland, and some of these
upon the lord deputy's warrant, as related by Strafford, in his defence,
that it was the common practice for the lord deputies of Ireland to have
men hanged upon their simple warrant, taking on themselves the respon-
sibility. — See Rushworih's Collections, viii. p. 649.

" Some time before the rebellion broke out," says Carte, " it was con-
fidently reported that Sir John Clotworthy, who well knew the designs
of the faction that governed the house of commons in England, had
declared there, in a speech, that the conversion of the Papists in Ireland
was only to be effected by the Bible in one hand, and the sword in the
other. And Mr. Pym gave out that they would not leave a priest in
Ireland. To the like effect Sir William Parsons, out of a strange weak-
ness, or detestable policy, positively asserted, before so many witnesses,
at a public entertainment, that, ivithin a twelvemonth, no Catholic
should be seen in Ireland. He had sense enough to know the conse-
quences that would naturally arise from such a declaration, which he
would hardly have ventured to make so openly, if it had not been agree-
able to the politics and measures of the English faction, whose party tie
espoused, and whose directions were the general rule of his conduct." —
Carte's Onnond, vol i. p. 235, (English authority.) — And so it turned
out to be; for it was afterwards a common thing for the English soldiers
to kill the pregnant women, and take out the young children from their
wombs, and sport them on the tops of their spears !

To see their lands and ancestral halls taken from themselves, and
handed over to strangers ; to see their priests hanged, or hunted, and the
exercise of their worship broken in upon by hardened, unfeeling ruffians;
to see their women and children thus butchered ; to find the king de-
ceiving them whilst he took large sums of their money, — was quite
enouo;h to drive men to madness.

726

CATHOLIC CONFEDERATION. IRISH REBELLION.

It becoming quite manifest to the Irish Catholics that a deep plot was
hatching for their destruction, several of the heads of that body confed-
erated for their mutual protection. Their alarm was increased by the
discovery of a certain petition to parliament, which was secretly got up
by the Puritans of Ireland, and had received many thousand signatures.
This petition prayed that the Irish Papists should be obliged either to
turn Protestants or quit the kingdom, and that those who would not sub-
mit to that law should be hanged at their own doors. The following
Irish chiefs then resolved on seizing on the Castle of Dublin, and estab-
lishing, by a vigorous 9nd well-concerted stroke, the independence of
their country — Sir Phelim O'Neill of Tyrone, Rory O'Morra of Ballina,
in the county Kildare, Maguire,lord ofEnniskillen, M'Mahon of Mona-
ghan, Philip O'Reilly, the chief of Cavan, and several other noblemen
of Ulster and Connaught. The attack on the castle was fixed for the
23d of October, 1641. Lords Maguire and M'Mahon were appointed
to liead the attack ; but one Connolly, Maguire's servant, gave infor-
mation of it to the justices the day previous, when the leaders were
seized. Maguire and M'Mahon were hanged at Tyburn. Connolly,
who embraced the Protestant religion, was rewarded with large posses-
sions, in the north-west of Ireland, as the wages of his perfidy.

Justices Borlaise and Parsons, who inwardly delighted at the idea of
a general revolt, having in view the prospect of considerable confisca-
tion, now despatched troops into every district of Ireland, to put down
the threatened or partial revolt. Sir Phelim O'Neill had captured
some English castles in the north, and O'Reilly of Cavan had seized
upon Drogheda and some garrisons in its neighborhood. The English
soldiery received orders to spare neither man, woman, nor child. Mas-
sacres were committed by them in Santry, Clontarf, and Bullock, near
Dublin. The garrison of Carrickfergus massacred three thousand men,
women, and children, near that place. Similar cruelties were practised
by Lord Broghill in the counties of Cork and Waterford — by Coote in
the county of Wicklow, where, to use the expression of Coote him-
self, " not a child, were it but a hand high, was left ahve." Yet the
Catholics, who, driven to madness by this inhuman cruelty, retaliated
on their pursuers, are charged with massacring the Protestants in cold
blood.

We have long been accustomed to hear the massacre of 1641 given as
a Popish butchery.

But what does impartial history say ?

ENGLISH EVIDENCES.

121

Dr. Anderson, in his Royal Genealogies, has the following passage : —

" The native Irish being well informed, as tliey thought, that they now [1641]
must either turn Protestant, or depart the kingdom, or be hanged at their own doors,
they betook to arms in their own defence ; especially in the province of Ulster,
where the six counties had been forfeited."

The English Lord Clarendon says, —

" About tlic beginning of November, 1641, the English and Scotch forces, m
Carrickfergus, murdered, in one night, all the inhabitants of the Island of Gee, to
the number of three thousand men, women, and cliildren, all innocent persons ; in
a time when none of tlie Catholics of tliat country were in arms or rebellion."

He adds the note, —

"This was the Jirst massacre committed in Ireland on either side."

The same noble author, further on, speaking of Munster, has the
following: —

" In Decey's county, the neighboring English garrisons of the county of Cork,
after burning and pillaging all that county, they murdered above three hundred
persons, men, women, and children, before a7iy rebellion began in Munster. And
the same party led one hundred laborers prisoners to Caperquin, who, being tied
in couples, were cast into the river, and made sport to see them drowned."

He continues thus : —

" Observe that this county is not charged with any murder committed on Protes-
tants.''''

Sir William Petty, an English Protestant, and secretary to Cromwell,
assures us that, after the most minute inquiry, he finds the computed
numbers killed on both sides, in battle and by massacre, did not exceed
thirty -six thousand ; and it appears there were more Irish Catholics
killed than of the opposite religion.

Other evidences might be given of provocations for what followed ;
but these two are samples of all. That the motives and objects of these
exterminators were plunder, is now admitted : to drive the unfortunate
people to revolt, in order that their lands might be seized, was their
aim. After Strafford's death, the chief government of Ireland was
lodged in the hands of the joint deputies. Parsons and Borlaise. Dr.
Leland, an historian on the English side, speaking of these men's acts,
says, —

" Whatever were the professions of the chief governors, the only danger tliey
really apprehended was that of a too speedy suppression of the rebellion. Exten-
sive forfeitures were their favorite object, and that of their friends."

Carte, the English historian, says, —

" They privately wrote to the Earl of Leicester not to accept of any overtures

728 ORDER TO KILL ALL THE PAPISTS.

from the northern rebels, because the cost of supplies from England would be amply
compensated by the estates of the actors in the rebellion. And after Parsons'a
disgrace, [says Carte,] he owned to Clanrickard, tliat the English parliament's
pamphlets were received in preference to the king's orders, as oracles, its com-
mands obeyed as laws, and extirpation preached as gospel.^''

Such were the predispositions of the governors of Ireland, and their
followers, previous to the explosion and massacre of 1641. That
was an upheaving of the whole elements of society, a bursting up of
the most wicked and exasperated passions of man. Leland says that
the favorite object, both of the Irish government and English parliament,
was the utter extermination o/ai^l. the Catholic inhabitants of Ireland,
even to the last human being ! He is a Protestant historian. Their
estates were already marked out and allotted to the conquerors, so that
they and their families were consigned to irretrievable ruin.

On the 23d February, 1641, an order was issued from the council
chamber of Dublin Castle, to kill every human being supposed to be a
rebel, or who gave heritance to a supposed rebel. This dreadful order
was literally carried into effect ; and the justices declare, says Leland,
(book 5,) " that the soldiers slew all persons promiscuously, not sparing
the women or children," The Ormond Letters supply the following
passage : —

" Sir William Parsons hath, by late letters, advised the governor to the burning
of corn, and to put man, icoman, and child to the sivord, and Sir Adam Lofhis
hath written in the same- strain." — Ormondes Letters, ii. 350.

The Liberator gives the following terrific page : —

" Here is a specimen of a massacre of prisoners in the streets of Dublin, who
were taken at the battle of Rathmines. It is Lord Ormond who speaks. The
army, [Catholic,] I am sure, was not eight thousand effective men, and of them it
is certain there were not above six hundred killed ; and the most of them that
were killed were butchered after they had laid down their arms, and had been
almost an hour prisoners, and divers of tliem murdered before they were brought
within the works of Dublin." — Oi-mond, ii. 396.

" Their friars and priests were knocked on tlie head, promiscuously, with the
others who were in arms." — Whitelocke, 412.

Again : —

" Sir Theophilus Jones had taken a castle, put some men to the sword, and
thirteen priests." — JVhitelocke, 527. " Monroe put sixty men, eighteen women, and
two priests, to death in Newry." — Leland, iii. 203.

Castlehaven and Clarendon give details of thousands of women, and
children, and old men, who hid themselves in furze, which was set
fire to, and the people m it burnt ; whoever tried to escape was shot.

RESISTANCE OF THE CATHOLICS. 729

The flame of revolt now broke forth from the north, west, and south ;
the Catholics revenged themselves every where on the Protestants,
whom they now regarded as their new enemies. The old English,
inside the Pale, as well as the old Irish outside, were driven, by terrible
^ persecution, to join this hatred of the new comers ; and, it is grievous
to state, some eight hundred and fifty families, and five thousand men,
of the new settlers, were massacred by the Catholics. Some of the
historians magnify this ; but Dr. Warner, who took every possible pains
to ascertain the truth, states this number as the result of his inquiry.

The king, becoming shocked at the rivers of blood, now let flowing
from both sides, sent commissioners to Ireland to treat for a cessation of
hostilities. But the lords justices in Dublin, and particularly Ormond,
frustrated every such attempt. Plunder, plunder, plunder, was their
object, though they swam to it through rivers of human blood.

The confederated Catholic lords, both of the English Pale and of old
Irish blood, now assembled in Kilkenny, under a regular organization,
and, having formed a supreme council, assumed the government of Ire-
land, for the protection of their religion, lives, and fortunes. The pres-
ence of clergymen at this assembly imparted to it a greater solemnity.
The four provinces were represented by-Thomas Preston, of the house of
Gormanstown, for Leinster ; Barry, of Barrymore, for Munster ; Burke,
of the house of Clanrickard, for Connaught ; and by Owen Roe O'Neill
for Ulster. At this Catholic national council, laws, admitted by their
enemies to be most equitable, were enacted. The grand council con-
sisted of six delegates from each province, and they adopted and used a
common seal ; ambassadors were sent from this council to foreign poten-
tates, to negotiate for aid, and, although unprovided whh arms, in less
than two years they conquered back a great proportion of the lands
which they lost in the last reign.

At length, by the king's repeated commands, a cessation of hostilities
between the Catholics and new settlers was agreed to. The king's
commissioners appeared at the Catholic council, in Kilkenny, with full
powers to settle all things to their satisfaction. The king suddenly be-
came most anxious to conciliate the Catholics, and attach them to his
interest, and commanded Ormond, his lord lieutenant, to conclude a
peace with them, whatever it cost. Here are the king's words: "/
command you to conclude a peace with the Irish, cost what it,may." In
another — " I absolutely command you, without reply, to execute the di-
rections I sent you on the 27th February last, which were, to malce peace
even without the council." The treaty for peace was signed at Kil-
92

730 THE king's dispute with the parliament. HAMPDEN.

kenny, by the Catholic confederates on the one hand, and by the king's
commissioners on the other. But scarcely was it signed, when it was
formally rejected by the northern army, who, though in the king's ser-
vice, were under the influence of the Puritan party in the English
parliament. An apprehension that I might weary my readers forbids
me to quote here the monstrous, the incredible cruelties practised by the
English government in Ireland, under the administration of Ormond, by
their officer. Sir Charles Coote. The terrible doings of this monster
may be seen in O'Connell's Memoir, pp. 200 to 206, Sec, Casserly's
edition.

It is worth our attention to inquire into the origin of that dispute,
between Charles the First and the Puritan parliament, which ended in
his execution. The king, having entered into war with Spain and
France, fitted out a considerable fleet, and, to defray the expense, laid a
tax on his subjects by the instrumentality of a simple proclamation.
Mr. Chambers, a citizen of London, disputed the legality of this tax.
The opinions of the twelve judges were demanded by the king ; the
judges sanctioned the demand ; but Mr. Hampden, a gentleman of
Buckinghamshire, also disputed and refused to pay the tax. The case
was carried before the judges, where it was ably argued, when Hamp-
den was cast, and ordered to pay twenty shillings, the sum originally
levied. This, however, was still refused.

Shortly after this, the king went to Scotland, and while there, dis-
covered that a secret correspondence was going on between the Scots,
Puritans, and some members of the house of commons. Five of these
he ordered to be apprehended, and their papers to be seized. The par-
liament then passed a vote, declaring the inviolability of the persons of its
members, and that whoever would seize on their persons or papers
should stand on his defence. Next day, the king, with five hundred
armed men, went into the parliament-house to arrest the five members,
and, not seeing them, exclaimed, " The birds are flown."

The excitement outside now rose to a high pitch ; the sheriffs of
London, with an armed multitude, carried the five obnoxious members
to their seats. Hampden, on landing from his barge, was conducted to
his seat by four thousand horsemen.

The king then retired to his country residence, Hampton Court, and
from that to Windsor, from whence he sent pardons for the five members ;
but these were rejected by the parliament. Both houses petition the
king to surrender the forts, the Tower, and other places of strength, into
their hands. This was refused, and the parliament levy militia, appoint

OLIVER CROMWELL. KING CHARLES BEHEADED. 731

commanders, organize a revolution, placing the chief command in the
hands of Oliver Cromwell, meet the king's party in several engage-
ments, and finally defeat him.

It is not a little extraordinary that Cromwell and some others, who
were about leaving England, on the breaking out of the civil war, were
seized at Plymouth, and detained by the king. At the celebrated
battle of Naseby, that very CromweWs right wing defeated the king's
army, took possession of all his ammunition, his majesty himself es-
caping by the merest chance.

The Scots now invite Charles to come over the border, — assuring
him that they will preserve him from his enemies. The king intrusts
himself to their confidence, and is basely betrayed by them into the
hands of the parliamentary leaders, and given up for two hundred
thousand pounds paid them by parliament.

Although the army and parliament, or rather the Presbyterians and
Independents, fell out, they subsequently agreed to impeach the king ;
seventy commissioners were appointed to try him ; at the head, as
president, was the celebrated Bradshaw.

They assembled in Westminster Hall. Bradshaw sat in a seat of
crimson velvet ; the others ranged themselves on either side, on
benches covered with scarlet ; at the feet of the president sat the
clerks ; on a table were the sword and mace, and directly opposite
stood a chair for the king ; when brought into court, and after hearing
the charge read, he declined to answer, and refused to acknowledge the
jurisdiction of the tribunal ; whereupon the president recorded the
" contempt and default of the prisoner." In four days after, the court
met and adjudged Charles guilty of the charges, and sentenced him to
death. On the 30th of January, 1649, he walked under guard from
St. James's to White-Hall, where he was led through the banqueting
room to the scaffold ; here his head was severed from his body, and then
given to his servants.

The death of the king was soon followed by the abolition of the
house of lords, when the powers of the three estates of the realm
merged in the house of commons. A new council, consisting of
thirty-nine persons, took on them the whole functions of the executive.
The crown lands, bishops' lands, the estates and revenues of the
deans and chapters, were again seized by the new powers ; in fact,
a new reformation was effected by the parliamentarians ; the mass book
was abolished by Elizabeth ; now, the church book, established by her
authority, was abolished, and a directory substituted by the parliament.

The persons who obtained priory, abbey, and church lands and

732 NEW SECTS. FANATICISM. AN OLIGARCHY.

tithes, in the preceding reign, for the support of the reformed church,
were all ejected now. " And it was remarkable," says William Cobbett,
" how loudly those persons exclaimed, ' Sacrilege, sacrilege ! ' against
the new comers, whose own title to that property was founded upon no
better authority."

As the Catholic bishops were shut out of parliament in the last
reign, so the Protestant bishops were now excluded. Prelacy was de-
nounced ; to renounce prelacy and the liturgy were the only terms upon
which the parochial clergy were allowed to retain their benefices.

Upon the ruins of the Episcopal church, two sects rose into impor-
ance — the " Presbyterians " and " Independents." The Presby-
terians were for throwing off the authority of bishops, the religious
ceremonies still observed, and the liturgies and form of prayer lately
established. The Independents carried the change still farther;
they were for the entire abolition of ecclesiastical government ; they
disdained creeds, abolished ceremonies of every kind, and contended
for the sufficiency of individual judgment in matters of religion. Oliver
Cromwell, Sir Harry Vane, and other leaders, belonged to this class.

The superior activity and energy of the Independents, their influ-
ence in the army, and the exclusion of their rivals — the Presbyterians
— from parliament, gave them great power. The commonwealth be-
came an oligarchy in the hands of about one hundred persons, supported
by a standing army of forty-five thousand men. This oligarchy was
supported by the sword. Cromwell soon obtained the mastery in the
army by flattering the religious fanaticism of the soldiers, and encour-
aging in it principles of a levelling character. Many of the common
soldiers claimed the right to interpret the Scriptures and preach the
gospel. One of these fanatics went into the church of Walton-upon-
Thames, while the congregation were at divine service, carrying
in his hand a lantern and five candles, also a Bible : he said he had a
message to them from God, and, if they did not listen, they would be
all damned : he put out one light, as a mark of the abolition of the
Sabbath; the second, as the- abolition of tithes and church dues; the
third, as a mark of the abohtion of all ministers ; the fourth, of all
magistrates ; and the fifth he applied to setting fire to a Bible, declaring
that that also was abolished.

Such were the new chief governors of England. And now we cast
our eyes again on Ireland. The Kilkenny confederates had made
nearly a general reconquest of Ireland from the English ; only
two chief garrisons remained in possession of the British, namely,
Dublin and Londonderry. The parliamentarians had taken ten

V/AR RENEWED AGAINST THE IRISH. 733

thousand Scotchmen into their pay : these were sent into Ireland, under
Major-General Monroe, rather to watch the movements of the Irish than
to reduce thera entirely. This force was augmented, by the Scotch and
English settlers in the country, to nineteen thousand men.

I take from M'Geoghegan the following graphic narrative of the
second battle of Benburb : —

" Monroe landed in Ireland in May. He marched to Carrickfergus, and seized
on the castles of Newry and Carlingford, where he placed garrisons. The Eng-
lish commanders represented to him that the opportunity was favorable for con-
tinuing the conquest, and reducing the whole province ; but he refused to cross the
River Bann, in which refusal he followed the directions of his masters. Having
condemned sixty men, eighteen women, and two priests, to death, in Newry, he
returned to Carrickfergus, and on his march laid waste the lands of Lord Iveagh
and Maccartan. He carried away four thousand head of cattle, and other prop-
erty ; the English forces expected a share in the booty, but the Scotch seized on
all during the night ; and the English, seeing themselves deceived, mutinied, and
v/ould no longer join the Scotch in their robberies.

" Owen Roe O'Neill was commander of the Irish in Ulster. He agreed with
the pope's nuncio, regarding the peace of lfi46, and the motives which influenced
tliat minister to oppose it. In the spring of this year, he travelled to Kilkenny, to
consult with tliat prelate on the state of religion and the country ; and, having re-
ceived the succors he expected, he returned to Ulster.

" This general collected his forces in the month of May, amounting to about
five thousand infantry and five hundred cavalry, with which body he marched
towards Armagh. Monroe led his army, consisting of six thousand infantry and
eight hundred horse, Scotch and English, and encamped within ten miles of the
same place. Being informed that O'Neill was on his march, with a design of
taking the city by surprise, the Scotch general decamped on the 4th of June, and,
advancing towards the city, arrived at midnight, with a view of attacking O'Neill.
Being informed that O'Neill was encamped at Benburb, Monroe marched the
next day to attack him ; but, though superior in numbers to O'Neill, he sent
orders to his brother, George Monroe, who commanded a force at Coleraine, to
come and join him at Glaslough, near Benburb. O'Neill, having information of
the time he was to pass, immediately despatched Colonels Bernard, M'Mahon, and
Patrick M'Nenay, with their regiments, to meet him and prevent a junction with
General Monroe. These two officers performed their trust to the satisfaction of
their commander. They cut the enemy, commanded by young Monroe, to pieces,
and' returned next day to Benburb, where they shared with O'Neill the honor of
the victory they had gained over the Scotch and English. O'Neill was favorably
posted between two hills, his rear being enclosed by a wood, and his right extend-
ing itself along the Blackwater. Being apprized that Monroe was at Glaslough,
O'Neill moved his cavalry to a height, from whence he viewed the Scotch army
on the opposite banks of the river. In the mean while, the Scotch crossed the
river, where it was fordable, near Kinard, and were marching to Benburb. O'Neill
sent Colonel Richard O'Ferral to occupy a defile through which the enemy had to
pass ; but their cannon prevented him from keeping it, and he was forced to retire,
wliich he did in good order.

734 SECOND BATTLE OF BENBURB.

« The two amues began to prepare for battle. O'Neill kept the enemy em-
ployed for a while with light skirmishing and musketry, while waiting for the sun,
wliich annoyed his troops during the day, to go down. He was expecting also
the arrival of a detachment, which he sent the preceding evening against some
of the enemy at Coleraine. When Monroe saw this force arrive, he thought that
they were coming to join himself from the same place, but found his mistake on
seeing them enter O'Neill's camp. O'Neill now commanded his men to advance
within reach of the pike, and to begin with close fighting. His orders in this
were most valiantly executed. The English regiment, commanded by Lord
Blaney, after a vigorous defence, was cut to pieces ; and the Scotch cavalry being
broken by those of O'Neill, the rout became general. There was but the one
regiment of Sir James Montgomery that retired in a body, the remainder of the
army that escaped being thrown into the greatest disorder. Colonel Conway, who
had two horses killed under him, accompanied by Captain Burke and about forty
horsemen, reached Newry. Lord Montgomery was taken prisoner, besides
twenty-one officers, and about a hundred and fifty soldiers ; three thousand two
hundred and forty-three of the enemy fell on the field of battle, and several were killed
the day following in the pursuit. The loss on the side of O'Neill amounted to
about seventy men killed and two hundred wounded. The whole of the Scotch artil-
lery, arms, tents, baggage, and thirty-two stand of colors, were taken. The booty
was immense ; it consisted of fifteen hundred draught horses, and provisions of
every kind for two months. General Monroe saved himself with difficulty on
horseback, and fled without either hat or wig. After this defeat, he burned
Dundrum, and abandoned Portdown, Clare, Galway, Downpatrick, and other strong
places. The consternation of his army was so great that numbers fled to Scot-
land for safety.

" The victory gained by General O'Neill seemed to portend the complete con-
quest of Ulster. His respect, however, for the orders of the nuncio lost to him
the fruits of his success. His excellency wTote to him in June, complimenting
him on the victory he had gained, and beseeching him to march into Leinster, to
the support of those who opposed the peace. The messenger found O'Neill at
Tenrage, ready to fall upon the Scotch. However, in obedience to the nuncio's
request, he assembled a council of war, when it was decided to march directly to
Kilkenny, in conformity to which decision he issued his commands."

The monarchy and house of lords being some time overthrown in
England, the government of Ireland became an object of dispute to all
parties in England. The Presbyterians were for conferring it on
Waller; the Independents were inclined towards Lambert; but, after
some debating, they all finally agreed tbat Oliver Cromwell was' fittest
for that important trust. For some lime previous, a war of extermina-
tion had been declared against the Irish Catholics.

On the 24th October, 1644, the English House of Commons passed
the following among other resolutions : —

"The lords and commons, assembled in the parliament of England, do declare,
that no quarter shall be given to any Irishman, or to any Papist born in Ireland,

NO QUARTER FOR THE IRISH. LANDING OF CROMWELL. 735

which shall be taken in hostility against tlie parliament, either upon sea or
within the kingdom or dominion of Wales ; and, therefore, do order that the lord-
general, tlie lord-admiral, and all other officers and commanders, botli by sea and
land, shall except all Irishmen, and all Papists born in Ireland, out of all capitu-
lations hereafter to be made with the enemy, and shall, upon the taking of every
such Irishman, and Papist born in Ireland, as aforesaid, forthioith pvi every
such person to deaih."

Cromwell, like some of the reformers who went before him, knew
the inflexibility of the Irish character in matters of religion. For the pur-
pose of reducing them to obedience to the new powers in England,
and under pretence of effecting ?i further reform of religion, he landed
in Dublin, with about twelve thousand of his choicest troops well
armed, bringing an extensive park of artillery, and twenty thousand
pounds in money. His army was composed almost entirely of religious
fanatics ; they were denominated levellers in England ; and they saw
before them in Ireland a rich prospect of plunder.

In the latter part of Charles's career, he caressed the Catholics of
Ireland, and induced them to believe that he was persecuted for coun-
tenancing the free exercise of their religion. This caused them to
espouse his quarrel, and to furnish soldiers and money to the royal
army. The Catholics were, therefore, now marked by Cromwell and
his levellers as their victims ; their private resolve was, no quarter
to the Papists, and this they put into execution to the letter.

Cromwell acted, on his arrival, as lord lieutenant of Ireland, in
the name of the parliament of England. No parliament was called or
suffered to be held in Ireland for thirty years after this ; the city of
Dublin submitted, but the provinces prepared for resistance, in the
name of " Charles the Second," son of the decapitated king.

To Drogheda Cromwell first marched. The town was defended only
by four or five thousand men, who bravely prepared to resist the
usurper. He appeared before it with ten thousand men, sum-
moned it to surrender, and, on refusal, thundered with his cannon at
the strong walls for two days, until he made a breach : the word for
assault was then given ; his men were twice repulsed with great
slaughter ; the garrison behaved with the utmost bravery. Cromwell,
seeing that all depended upon his success at this point, with the bravery
of a Napoleon, drew his sword, and, rallying his desponding soldiers,
entered the breach with great fury, and, breaking through the first
resistance, promised quarter to all those who should submit: this
quarter was continued as long as resistance appeared in any part of the
town. A submission was thus temporarily procured ; and no sooner

736 MASSACRE AT DROGHEDA. BLASPHEMY OF CROMWELL.

were the arms of the brave defenders given up, than, says Leland,
" Cromwell, with an infernal calmness and deliberation, resolved, by
one effectual execution, to terrify the whole Irish party ; he issued his
fatal orders that the garrison should be put to the sword. Some of his
soldiers with reluctance butchered their prisoners ; the governor and all
his gallant comrades, numbering three thousand men, were butchered
in cold blood. A number of ecclesiastics wero found within the walls,
and these seemed to be the more immediate objects of his vengeance ;
he ordered his soldiers to plunge their weapons into the helpless men's
bodies. For five days, this butchery continued; thirty persons only,
out of the whole garrison and citizens, remained unslaughtered, and
these were transported as slaves to Barbadoes."

Cromwell sent to the parliament, on this occasion, a blasphemous
despatch ; it is worthy of perpetuation : —

" Sir, — It lias pleased God to bless our endeavors at Drogheda ; after battering",
we stonnod it. The enemy were about three thousand strong in the town. I
believe we put to the sword the whole number of the defendants. I do not think
thirty of the whole number escaped with their lives, and those that did are in
safe custody for the Barbadoes. This hath been a marvellous great mercy. I
wish that all honest heads may give the glory of this to God alone, to whom, indeed,
the honor belongs. For instruments, they were very inconsiderable to the work
throughout.

"O. Cromwell."

Upon which the parliament of England resolved, 2d October,
1649: —

" For this important success of the parliament's forces in Ireland, the house
appnintod a thanksgiving day, to be held on the 1st November ensusing through-
out the nation ; and further, a letter of thanks was voted to be sent to Cromwell,
lord lieutenant of Ireland, in which notice was to be taken that the house did
approve of the execution done at Drogheda, as an act both o\' justice to them, and
mercy to others, who may be warned by it." — Parliamentary History, vol. iii.
p. 1334.

ITow can any Englishman feel surprised at the natural hatred which
Irishmen entertain towards his country? Let every honest Englishman,
who blushes for this horrible resolution of the English commons, join
those patriotic men in England, Ireland, and America, who are try-
ing peaceably to get justice done to Ireland. By such a course alone
can that well-grounded hatred ever be removed.

Cromwell spread terror and consternation far and wide : he despatched
part of his army to the north, and repaired himself to the south. Wex-
ford he took easily, by the treachery of one Stafford, and, as in Droghe-
da, butchered the inhabitants, numbering five thousand.

WEXFORD MASSACRE. HEROIC BISHOP. 737

Dr. Llngard, describing this massacre, says, " No distinction was
made between the defenceless inhabitant and the armed soldier ; nor
could the shrieks of three hundred females, who had gathered round the
great cross, preserve them from the swords of those ruthless barbarians."

He next proceeded to Duncannon ; but he was met here by a brave
and unexpected resistance from Wogon, the governor, who made a
sally which destroyed many of the besiegers, and obliged them to retire.

At Clonmel, he met with still greater resistance from Hugh ONeill,
who commanded only twelve to fourteen hundred of the provincials,
and who yet made such a resistance, that, in the first assault, two
thousand of the besiegers were killed. He was, therefore, content to
surround and starve the city rather than storm it. Lord Onnond sent
some assistance to the fort, but they were intercepted by the be-
siegers, and scattered or taken prisoners.

Amongst the prisoners taken at Ross, by Cromwell's forces, was a
Catholic bishop, who had been active in preaching up resistance to the
anvader. He could expect no forgiveness, yet forgiveness was promised
him, if he would use his great influence in inducing his friends in Clon-
mel to surrender ; he was taken before the town, but the gallant captive,
unshaken by the fear of death, when he came within sight of his coun-
trymen, implored them to maintain their post resolutely against the
enemies of their country and their religion, and be ready, as he was, to
die in their defence ; and then instantly resigned himself to execution.

Such a deed is worthy of a Spartan or a Roman fame, and ought to
bring crimson to the cheeks of those Irishmen who refuse to stir hand or
foot for the liberties of their country.

After a brave resistance of two months, diiring which Cromwell
lay around the town with twenty thousand men, many thousands of
whom were destroyed by repeated sallies, the garrison, having ex-
hausted their ammunition, secretly withdrew to Waterford, evacuating
the town ; and those who remained obtained most advantageous terms
from the usurper, under an impression that he had got hold of the gar-
rison, which, on finding how he was baffled, sorely vexed him, for he
had lain before the town all that time, unable to proceed farther in his
conquest southward.

He had already taken several thousands of the poor, defenceless
peasantry, and shipped them as slaves to the West India colonies,
when he was called back to England, to oppose Prince Charles,
(son of Charles the First,) who had left the Hague, by invita-
tion of some leading royalists of Scotland, and proceeded from the
93

738 o'connell's sketch of cromwell.

continent, in a small convoy, under the command of the Baron Von
Tromp. Arriving safe in Scotland, the young prince, though a Prot-
estant, was compelled to swear to the covenant of the Scottish Presby-
terians, and had already made considerable headway.

On Cromwell's hasty return to England, he left the army in
IrelanrI, under Ireton, who was his duplicate, in cruelty at least.

I cannot even touch one tenth of the terrible events of this crue!
usurper's career.

One chief cause of the submission of Ireland to Cromwell was
the death of O'Neill, and the treachery of Lord Inchiquin, who
commanded, for the Irish confederation, nearly all the strong posts of
Munster, and whose surrender of these posts, and accession to the
enemy, was a severe blow to the cause of Ireland.

Limerick was obtained by the treachery of one or two within, and
the garrison and citizens put to the sword. Galway and several other
towns ultimately fell into the hands of the parliament. Lastly, Crom-
well, having obtained several victories over the troops of Prince Charles,
in Scotland, and compelled him to fly, was enabled to send fresh forces
to Ireland, which were poured in in such masses, that they became
inconvenient to each other.

I will introduce here a powerful summing up of Cromwell's atrocities,
from O'Connell's Memoir : —

" Cromwell gorged himself with human blood ; he committed the most hideous
slaughters, deliberate, cold-blooded, persevering; he stained the annals of the
English people with guilt of a blacker dye than has stained any other nation on
earth ; and, after all, for what ? What did he gain by it ? Some four or five
years of precarious power ! and, if his loathsome corpse was interred in a royal
grave, it was so only to have his bones thence transferred to a gibbet ! Was it
for this that he deliberately slaughtered thousands of men, women, and children?
female loveliness, and the innocent and beautiful boy — aged but seven years —
of Colonel Washington ? The natural result of the promiscuous slaughter of the
unarmed peasantry, wherever the English soldiers could lay hold on them, was, as
a matter of course, an appalling famine ; the ploughman was killed in the half-
ploughed field ; the laborer met his death at the spade ; the haymaker was him-
self mowed down ; a universal famine covered the land. An eye-witness, em-
ployed in hunting to death the Irish, has left the description which follows:
' About the years 1G52 and 1653, the plague and famine had so swept away whole
countries, that a man might travel twenty or thirty miles, and not see a living
creature, either man, beast, or bird, they being either all dead or had quit those
desolate places. Our soldiers would tell stories of the place where they saw a
smoke, it was so rare to see either smoke by day, or fire or candle by night ; and,
when we did meet with two or three poor cabins, none but very aged men, witli
women and children, were to be seen, and tliose, like the prophet, might have

SHOCKING CRUELTIES. 739

complained, We are become as a bottle in the smoke ; our skin is black, like an
oven, because of the terrible famine, &c. &c.' — Colonel Laurence's Ireland,

pp. 86, 87."

Cromwell now instituted trials of all those who assisted the " rebel-
lious " of the last ten years. But so many had been killed, so many
of the original movers were butchered, or had fled to Spain and France,
that only two hundred suffered death : thousands upon thousands had
forfeited their estates, and escaped to the continent.

We see, from Broudin and Lingard, that Cromwell sent away one
hundred thousand Irish to foreign countries ; they were principally the
flower of the Irish armies. Several thousand young girls and women
were seized, and sent to the West India and American colonies, under
pretence of making them English and Christian! These unhappy exiles
perished in hundreds and thousands ; many thousands were crowded
beyond the Shannon into Connaught, to live as best they could, or
to die of hunger from excessive numbers. The rest of Ireland was then
coolly divided amongst the soldiers of Oliver, he reserving to himself
the whole county Tipperary for a demesne. An edict was at the same
time issued from Dublin Castle, signed by Fleetwood, Ludlow, and
Jones, commanding that every Romish priest found in Ireland was
deemed guilty of rebellion, and sentenced to be hanged till half dead —
then to have his head taken off, and his body cut in quarters, his
bowels taken out and burnt, and his head fixed upon a pole in some
public place ; five pounds were offered for the head of a priest, which
was the sum given for the head of a wolf.

The Liberator quotes an extract, from a rare tract published the
year after Cromwell's death, which, after describing the horrid deaths
of about twenty-four of the most illustrious Irish commanders, concludes
thus : —

" What shall I yet say ? Time would fail me to narrate the martyrdoms of chiefs,
nobles, prelates, priests, friars, citizens, and others, of the Irish Catholics, whose
purple gore has stained the scaffolds almost without end, who, by faith, conquered
kingdoms, and wrought justice, of whom some had trials in mockeries and stripes,
moreover, also, in chains and prisons ; others were stoned, cut asunder, racked, or
put to death with the sword ; others have wandered over the world in hunger,
thirst, cold, and nakedness, — being in want, distressed, afflicted, — wandering
in deserts, in mountains, in dens, and in caves of the earth."

It was after having read these things in O'Connell's Memoir, that the
patriot, Robert Tyler, exclaimed, at Philadelphia, in reply to Brougham,
" Thank God, I am not an Englishman ! "

The lands of Ireland were now parcelled into small allotments, among

740 CROMWELL ASSUMES THE THRONE. HIS DEATH.

Cromwell's array. This rule applied to every part of Ireland save
Connaught, which was appropriated by the English parliament, in a
general treaty with the Irish, for their reception ; all beyond the Shan-
non was appropriated for their use; and the rest of Leiand was
divided amongst the adventurers of the previous reigns and the present.
This took place anno 1654 ; but the parliament found it impossible to
force all the Irish from their homes, without encountering another war,
to which Cromwell was now averse.

At length, having influenced a majority of the English parliament to
his interest, Cromwell had himself proclaimed lord protector of Eng-
land, Scotland, and Ireland ; he sent his son Henry to Ireland, who
suddenly changed the system of government to comparative mildness.
Meditating now the seizure of the crown of England, and the es-
tablishment of himself as monarch, he soon found an opportunity to
carry his ambitious views fully into effect. Having secured the army,
and generated distrust of the parliament in the minds of the people,
he boldly took a file of musketeers to the house of commons, and
bid them "disperse — they had sat long enough"! To one, he
said, he was a drunkard ; to another, a cheat ; and finally directed
his officer to " carry ofi' that shining bauble," pointing to the mace.
In short, having turned them all out, he locked up the doors, and
coolly put the keys of the parliament-house in his pocket. '

He soon called another parliament, but quickly dissolved it ; called a
second, and dissolved that ; a third, and a fourth, and found them all
untractable. He assembled and dissolved his parliaments as he would
his courts martial. His government was a naked despotism, depending
entirely on the soldiery for support. No parliament had been suffered to
assemble in Ireland for many years ; that country was given up to the
management of his son. His internal government was distinguished by
watclifulness and energy ; by means of his spies, he frustrated every
effort of his enemies ; but death put a period to his career, after a
stormy existence. He reigned as lord protector four years, but was
military dictator for ten or twelve.

Although his son, Richard Cromwell, was proclaimed hereditary pro-
tector, yet his authority was soon overthrown ; and the young Prince
Charles, having now a considerable party in England, Scotland, and
Ireland, had himself recalled to the throne of England ; which event
is denominated, in English history, the " restoration.^''

Charles the First, when beheaded, left three children — two of

CHARLES II. CHANGE IN THE RELIGION OF THE STATE. 741

whom successively became monarchs of England, as Charles the
Seco?id, and James the Second ; the first now filled the throne.

Anno 1660. On the arrival of Charles to power, he was beset by
intrigues. The various parties into which the three kingdoms were
split, contended for favor. The king introduced Episcopacy again, as
the religion of the nation, admitted bishops to the house of lords, and
also some Catholic peers to the same assembly, and drove the Presby-
terians and Independents from all offices of trust and power. The
Presbyterian clergy, especially, were driven from their livings.

This was the state of things in England. The condition of Ireland
was miserable in the extreme: the people had continued fighting for the
royal cause three years longer than any other part of the British empire ;
subject, for the previous hundred years, to the subduing influences of the
sword and of famine ; driven from their homes into wilds and fastnesses ;
and their houses and lands occupied by a new race, who seemed bent
on their extermination. It was thus the unfortunate wrecks of the
native Irish were penned up like hunted beasts in the wilds of Con-
naught. When Charles the Second came to the throne, before he
even landed in England, commissioners were sent to induce him to
exclude the Cathohcs of Ireland from parliament, and to confirm Crom-
well's soldiers in their holdings : this he promised, and, though the Irish
Catholics were the first to declare for his restoration, he, like a true
Stuart, when he reached the goal of his ambition, became the bitterest
enemy they had in all his dominions.

The very men, Coote and Broiighill, who most opposed the Stuart
cause, under Cromwell, — these, who hunted the old native Irish like
wolves, were the two men whom Charles now placed as chief rulers
over Ireland. The clamors that beset him, about the lands and spoils
of Ireland, were such as baffle all description. The English were all
for sweeping confiscations ; and the king was too much dependent on
his English supporters to refuse them any thing they asked in Ireland.
An act of " settlement " was, therefore, brought into parliament, which
confiscated from the Catholic Irish eight millions of acres of the

BEST LAND OF THE KINGDOM.

As for the mock " Court of Claims," established by him in Dublin,
one sentence will describe it. Before one thousand of the Catholic
proprietors had preferred their claims to be restored to their possessions, —
which claims, being resisted by the most barefaced perjury, were gen-
erally rejected, — Clarendon, his lord lieutenant, dissolved the court,
though there ivere yet seven thousand claims remaining unheard.

742 LENITY OF THE CATHOLICS. INGRATITUDE OF CHARLES.

The old Catholic families met, and appointed agents to proceed to
England, to remonstrate against this sweeping and cruel confiscation ;
but they were neither heeded, nor even treated civilly, by Charles or
his ministers.

The Catholics were charged with the murder of fifty thousand
Protestants, since 1641 ; and, though the Catholics dared their accusers
to a solemn investigation of the origin of the spilling of blood, and
the greatest sufferers thereby, no inquiry ever took place. It is proved,
by Protestant historians, in numberless instances, where Catholic
generals saved the lives of Protestants during this sanguinary war.
O'Connell quotes three English historians to this effect : —

" But," he says, " with what proud and glowing gratulation do I turn to the
conduct of the Irish Catholics during the civil war! I collect from Protestant
historians; for on this subject I shall scarcely use one other: 'Multitudinous
facts of lenity, forbearance, and mercy — the horrors of war mitigated by the
multiplied exercise of the tenderest humanity.' What a glorious contrast ! a con-
ti-ast rendered more striking when we bear in mind, that all this time the English
Protestants were committing the horrid cruelties I have been citing. We find
preserved by Cartt (English and Protestant) the following fact: 'The Irish
made proclamation, on pain of death, tliat no Scotsman should be molested in
body, goods, or lands.' p. 178. The next admission is from Temple : ' It was
resolved by the Irish party not to kill any, but where of necessity they should be
forced thereunto by opposition. ' — Temple's History of the Rebellion, 65. — Even
Leland himself — the anti-Irish, the anti-Catholic Lei and — has the same admis-
sion : ' In the beginning of the insurrection, it was determined by the Irish, that
the enterprise should be conducted in every quarter with as little bloodshed as
possible.' — Book 5, c. 3."

See O' ConnelVs Memoir, for further evidences.

The doom of Ireland was, however, now sealed, and her choicest
spirits were driven into exile, and, for the first time, sought employment
in the armies of Spain and France ; in which service, as we shall
see hereafter, they distinguished themselves by bravery, ability, and
genius. All the old inhabitants became victims, in some way or other,
to the reformation.

"That spirit was broken which never would bend."

The ingratitude of Charles the Second to the Catholic Irish ought
to cause tiiem to hate forever the name and race. This king, who had
twice owed his life to Catholic priests ; who had, in fifty-two instances,
held his life at the mercy of Catholics, and, when Cromwell's blood-
hounds hunted him through Scotland, had been concealed, and then
guided in safety past his enemies, by one of those Catholics, a poor
man, who could have had a great reward for giving him up, — this

CALUMNIOUS PAMPHLETS. FALSE HISTORIES. 743

very king — profligate in manners, mean and corrupt in principles —
has placed upon the page of history the most memorable instances of
baseness and ingratitude that ever it received.

Derrick, in his entertaining letters, relates the following anecdote —
one instance in a thousand of the ingratitude of that most heartless and
profligate member of a worthless race : —

« The conduct of Charles the Second, on his restoration, is notorious ; he con-
firmed the grant made to Oliver's soldiers, while his most loj'al subjects were
betrayed and abandoned to misery. Among these unhappy sufferers, no man's
case was more deplorable than that of Lord Viscount Fermoy, the head of the
Roclies, a numerous and loyal clan in the county of Cork. This nobleman, re-
fusing to compromise witli the usurper, abandoned a very fine estate, and in 1652
went abroad, and entered into the Spanish service. When Charles was at Brus-
sels, Fermoy, being a colonel of a regiment, assigned to the king almost all his
pay, reserving a mere trifle for the maintenance of himself and family. This
generosity having ruined him, he was obliged to sell his regiment to pay his debts ;
and afler the restoration, coming to London with a wife and six children, the king,
tliough pressed by the Duke of Ormond and Lord Clanricarde, far from restoring
him to his honors and estate, refused to hear of him ; and had it not been for the
benevolence of these two illustrious noblemen, tliis unhappy lord and his family
must have starved." — Virtue's Scenes in Ireland.

On another occasion, Colonel Costello, who had sacrificed his entire
fortune in the king's service, thus addressed the ungrateful monarch
in reply to his customary cant of condolence : " Please your majesty,
I ask no compensation for my services and losses in your majesty's cause ;
I see that to your friends, and to my countrymen in particular, you give
nothing, and that it is your enemies alone who receive favor and reward.
For ten years' service, for many wounds, and for the total loss of my
estates, I ask nothing ; but in the ardor of youth, and in the belief that I
was asserting the sacred cause of liberty, I fought for one year in favor
of the usurper, and against your majesty : give me hack such portion of
my estates as that year's service entitles me to I "

During the reigns of James the First, EUzabeth, and Cromwell, pam-
phlets, defaming the Irish, were constantly issuing from the press of Eng-
land. These pamphlets were issued in periods of strife, for the purpose
of palliating, before the more humane portion of the people of England,
the atrocities of their agents and armies in Ireland. For sixty years
these pamphlets continued to be issued in England : not one of them but
contained wilful, detailefl falsehoods ; even John Milton blotted his
pages with enormous calumnies on the Catholics, and retained vigor
enough to abuse the Irish Presbyterians in his old age. Throughout the
last century, the English historians copied into their books the wretched

744

TITUS GATES.

effusions of these party pamphleteers. The English acts of parliament,
through every preamble and clause, contained calumny and abuse of
the Irish. And from these lying pamphlets, and lying acts of parlia-
ment, has the history of England, relating to this period, been compiled.
Those things were encouraged, for it was comfortable to them to hear ill
names applied to a race they had robbed and slaughtered. Those
calumnies were worked into the histories of England. Falsehoods,
once brought into life, take ages to die. English conversation, literature,
public documents, all convey a disparaging account of the resources,
military achievements, and abilities, of the Irish. Of course, this is done
to discourage all attempts of the Irish people to recover their independ-
ence; but the fifteen years' war with the English Puritans was as well
sustained by the Irish, though not with equal success, as the war against
Elizabeth.

I will not consume valuable space by dwelling on the events of
Charles the Second's reign. At one period, he swore to the covenant
of the Scotch Presbyterians ; again he sold himself to Louis the Four-
teenth of France, and promised that king to restore the Catholic religion.
On obtaining power by this very means, he became the greatest perse-
cutor of the Catholics. Towards the close of his reign, he relaxed
somewhat towards the Catholics, and admitted them to the corporations,
magistracy, and the free exercise of their religion. During all his reign,
plots and conspiracies against his power succeeded each other, in which
Russell, Sidney, Oates, Rathbone, and others, were the chief, but un-
successful actors: his brother, tlie Duke of York, afterwaids James the
Second, who was principally bred to the sea, professed himself a
Roman Catholic ; and an immense outcry was got up against the pope
and Catholics. It seemed to be the bugbear cry of the age, and was
industriously propagated, for mere political purposes.

On the appointment of the notorious Ormond to the lord lieutenantcy
of Ireland, an outcry against popery was got up there. A plot was said
to be hatched by Titus Oates, which had for its object the murder of
all the Protestants, the overthrow of the monarchy, and the resumption
of the forfeited estates ; that the Jesuits were at the bottom of it, and
that they instigated the burning of London, and were now meditating
the burning of all the ships in the harbors of England and Ireland ;
that Ormond himself was to be the first victim, &tc. The supposed
Irish leaders in this plot were Peter Talbot, the Catholic archbishop of
Dublin, who had latterly distinguished himself by the grandeur with
which he celebrated the Catholic worship, Lord Mountgarrett, and others.

DEATH OF CHARLES THE SECOND. JAMES THE SECOND. 745

Terror seized the whole nation, and the whisperings of reason were
drowned in the hurricane of indignation that immediately broke out. At
first, men walked the streets as if their steps were dogged by assassins, and
turned a comer as if death lay in wait to seize them. Some Protestants
really imagined they were doomed to death by the pope and his agents.
At length indignation succeeded terror, and nothing but blood would
satisfy the public appetite.

Oates, who now offered himself as an informer to government, received
from them the greatest encouragement, and a pension of twelve hundred
pounds a year. There were many marked out for destruction ; and as
Oates, in his own person, proved that a Protestant witness against the
Catholics was a good speculation, there were many who now contended
for the honor and profit of disclosing the names of conspirators to the
governn)ent. The names of many persons who had no existence were
given in — amongst these a " Colonel Peppard," who was never before or
since heard of. The Catholic priests were held accountable for the acts
of their people, and imprisoned on suspicion. Catholics were driven
from every office they filled, and a sudden and general persecution com-
menced, during which several great men fled from England and Ireland,
among them the Duke of York. Numbers of criminals, who were con-
fined in the jails, now offered to become informers. Upon the evidence
of three of those loathsome wretches. Archbishop Plunkett, the Catholic
primate of Ireland, was apprehended, and, contrary to the laws of the
realm, sent over to England to be tried, where he was found guilty and
condemned to death, though some difficulty was experienced in accom-
plishing his destruction, even by a Protestant jury. He was hanged in
Tyburn ; and Burnet, the Protestant historian, says of him, " He was a
wise and sober man, fond of living quietly and in due subjection to the
government, without engaging in intrigues of state ; be had nothing to
say in his defence but to deny all ; so he was condemned, and suffered
very decently, expressing himself in many particulars as became a
bishop." — Burnet, vol. i. p. 230. At last, after a number of lives had
been taken, the people awoke from their frenzy, and found they had
been made the dupes of faction.

In this reign, the celebrated George Fox founded the society of Qua-
kers. He was imprisoned and persecuted by Charles and his ministry :
so were the Scotch Presbyterians, and the Irish Catholics.

Charles died on the 6th of February, 1685, in the midst of political
troubles, and was succeeded by- his brother, the celebrated James the
Second. On the king's accession to the throne, he released from
94

746 RELEASES FROM PRISON CATHOLICS AND QUAKERS.

prison several thousand Catholics, who were kept on fines for not attend-
ing Protestant worship ; he also discharged twelve hundred Quakers,
who were imprisoned for a like offence. His clemency and justice were
applauded by the whole hation. King James publicly professed his
Catholic principles, and, very shortly after his coronation, published a

DECLARATION, ALLOWING LIRERTY OF CONSCIENCE TO ALL HIS SUBJECTS.

He dispensed with all penal laws and tests. Even the oaths of alle-
giance and supremacy, on entering office, were abolished. The Catho-
lics, Presbyterians, Quakers, and all other religionists, were thus made
eligible to all offices in the state. Perfect freedom of conscience was
universally established.

Addresses of thanks for this liberty were daily presented to him, by
dissenters, Presbyterians, Quakers, Catholics, all of whom made the
highest professions of loyalty and gratitude. The Quakers, without
compromising their principles, left their hats in the privy chamber, ere
they entered the king's presence.

The Catholics of Ireland had resumed their position in the state.
Many of the Irish chiefs returned to their castles and estates, and had
turned the Cromwellians out. The Catholic Earl of Tyrconnel was
made lord lieutenant of Ireland ; a parliament was called in Dublin,
which was composed two thirds of Catholic members, one third Protes-
tant ; and it is admitted this parliament passed a series of excellent laws
for the promotion of trade and manufactures, and not one law of a penal
or persecuting character. Ireland began again to assume the features
of civilization and prosperity. The following are a few of the principal
acts passed by that parliament, which, however, were afterwards ex-
punged from the statute-books of England : —

An act declaring that the parliament of England cannot bind Ireland.
— Against writs of errors for removing suits out of the Irish courts to
the courts of England.

An act for repealing the acts of settlement. An act for taking off all
incapacities of the natives of this kingdom.

An ACT FOR LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE, and repealing such acts and
clauses in any act of parliament which are inconsistent with the same.

An act for the encouragement of strangers to inhabit and plant in the
kingdom of Ireland.

An act for investing in his majesty the goods of absentees.

An act for the advance and improvement of trade, and for the en-
couragement and increase of shipping and navigation.

These acts are evidence of the liberal spirit of the Irish Catholics,

THE HIGH CHURCH PARTY OPPOSE HIM. 747

when in possession of supreme power, and ought to go far In removing
from the minds of all reasoning men any apprehensions about the future
exercise of power by that calumniated body of Christians.

But this liberal conduct begot in the hearts of the Episcopal party a
fiery animosity, which soon displayed itself. The vice-chancellor of the
University of Cambridge opposed the king's tolerant wishes, by rejecting
one Francis, a monk, from the fellowship of that college. The king
issued a mandate to this college, and to that of the College of St. Mary
Magdalene, at Oxford, directing them to admit Catholics to study, and
to degrees. The colleges refused to obey the king ; and thus was the
religious quarrel again opened by the intolerance of the High Church
Protestant party in England.

At this time, a political conspiracy against the king of France begot a
religious persecution of the Protestants in that country, many of whom
were killed. Some of them fled to England and Ireland. Those were
called the French Huguenots, and the whole of this massacre grew from
a political plot , for the particulars of which, see Cobbett's History of
the Reformation. King James, by an order in council, ordered a col-
lection to be taken through all the churches, for the relief of those
persecuted French Protestants, when sixty-three thousand pounds ster-
ling were made up for their use. They were also kindly and hos-
pitably received in Ireland, and were the means of reviving the silk
manufacture in that country. The La Touches, the wealthy bankers
of that city, are descendants of some of those Huguenots. About the
same time, a rebellion broke out in England, headed by Monmouth, the
professed object of which was the reestablishment of the Protestant
ascendancy. It was suppressed. Monmouth was executed, with accom-
panying circumstances of horror, Judge Jeffries, who was as bloody-
minded as any judge that ever sat, under the authority of England,
condemned hundreds to death for aiding in this rebellion, upon slender
evidence. This begot in the hearts of many men a well-founded hatred
of the king and his government.

The king, adhering to his resolution of declaring conscience free,
issued a further declaration to a like effect, which he commanded all
bishops, deacons, presbyteries, elders, and religious teachers, of every
denomination, to read amongst their congregations, on three successive
Sundays. This very fair and liberal declaration was refused to be read
by the Protestant archbishop of Canterbury and six other bishops, which
refusal created considerable excitement. The bishops petition the king,
in which they deny his power to grant such liberty ; though they had,

748

TRIAL OF THE SEVEN BISHOPS.

by the oath of supremacy, sioorn the kings of England to be chiefs in
religious matters.

The bishops were then imprisoned by the king, (a very foolish act,)
and tried for contempt, by a jury, who, after great debate and a long stay
in the jury-box, brought in a verdict " not guilty." This verdict was
received with applause by some persons in the court, and reaching the
king's army, who were stationed near London, a cheer was also raised
by the soldiers, which the king hearing, while at dinner in the neigh-
borhood, he asked an attendant what the cheer was given for, and
received for answer, " Nothing, my liege, but the acquittal of the
bishops." " Call you that nothing?" rejoined the king.

Several earls and lords of the Protestant party, highly incensed at
the favor shown to the Catholics, entered into a confederation to
change the succession : these sent deputies and an address to William,
Prince of Orange, inviting him over, and offering him their support on
his arrival. This address was confided to the celebrated Bishop Burnet,
who afterwards wrote a history of his times. Burnet, with much plausi-
bility, painted to William the dazzling prospects of possessing the crown
of England, and actually enticed him to the enterprise, though it was to
dethrone James, his own father-in-law.

The prince at length, after many disappointments, landed at Torbay,
on the 5th November, 1688, with only seven hundred men ; and, but
few persons joining his standard, he made preparations to return. He
seemed disheartened for want of success, and continued for a week to
remain close to his ships, for the purpose of returning, threatening, at the
same time, to publish the names of all those who had invited him over,
as a reward for their treachery and cowardice. By degrees, accessions
came dropping in. Lord Colchester deserted from King James's army,
with a few men under his command ; Lord Cornby was the next ; and
so,' after the examples of only two or three of this sort, hundreds, and
then thousands, flocked to his standard. Meantime his main army ar-
rived from Holland, which amounted to fourteen thousand men. He then
marched, with all his forces, towards London. The king met him, with
thirty thousand men, at Salisbury ; but, instead of fighting, his principal
officers joined the invaders. The king now fled to London, from
whence he subsequently retired to France. James was betrayed by his
secretary, the Duke of Sunderland, who, the better to effect his treach-
ery, affected to become a Catholic, but gave the king's secrets to the
Protestant confederation all the time. Louis the Fourteenth offered to
send James thirty thousand men ; but this Sunderland strongly opposed,

FLIGHT OF JAMES. ACCESSION OF WILLIAM THE THIRD. 749

on the ground that it would shake the loyalty and confidence of the
English people in the king. William entered London in the midst of
burning Catholic chapels and desecrated altars.

James reigned only three and a half years ; all his relations deserted
him at the very crisis of his fate. Even his daughter Anne, wife of
the Prince of Denmark, with her husband, fled, in the night, from his
palace to the Prince of Orange's camp, which niade the wretched
monarch exclaim, " God help me ; my very children have forsaken me."
And now it will be necessary to follow the fortunes of his cause to
Ireland.

The declarations of freedom of conscience in England, had been like-
wise made and published, and carried into effect in Ireland, by his
command. A parliament was called, to which Catholics were invited
with Protestants ; and a spirit of emulation, enterprise, and public
virtue, seemed for a short period to take the place of the demon of dis-
cord and rapine. All religions were tolerated, and the Catholics were
admitted to places of trust, to the corporations, and to the command of
the army. Good feeling and conciliation were the order of the day ; but
the High Church party, and others, who had been put in possession of
the old Catholic property, feared much that, should this state of things
continue, some of that property would be put back to its original owners.
It is to be noted here that the English house of lords debated as to
whether they should support King James after his flight. The vote was
taken on the following question : " whether James had broken the
original compact, and thereby made the throne vacant." Negatived
by a majority of two ; which proves that one branch of the British
legislature had agreed with the Irish people in sentiment.

Sir Jonah Harrington puts the case of the Irish people, at this period,
in the following terse and pithy style : —

" James, a monarch de jure and de facto, expelled from one portion
of his empire, threw himself for protection upon the loyalty and faith
of another ; and Ireland did not shrink from affording that protection.
She defended her legitimate monarch against the usurpation of a for-
eigner ; and whilst a Dutch guard possessed themselves of the British
capital, the Irish people remained faithful to their king, and fought
against the invader.

" In strict matter of fact, therefore, England became a nation of de-
cided rebels, and Ireland remained a country of decided royalists. His-
toric records leave that point beyond the power of refutation. * * *

" James was the hereditary king of both countries, jointly and severally.

750 A GRAND IRISH ARMY RAISED.

The third constitutional estate, only, of one of them, (England,) had
deposed him by their own simple vote; but Ireland had never been con-
sulted on that subject ; and the deposition of the king of Ireland by the
commons of England, could have no paramount authority iq Ireland, or
supersede the rights and dispense with the loyalty of the Irish parlia-
ment. The Irish people had held no treasonable intercourse with
William ; they knew him not ; they only knew that he was a foreigner,
and not their legal prince; that he was supported by a foreign power,
and had succeeded hy foreign mercenaries. But even if there was a
doubt, they conceived that the most commendable conduct was that of
preserving entire their allegiance to the king, to whom, in conjunction
with England, they had sworn fealty. The British peers had showed
them an example, and on that principle they fought William, as they
had fought Cromwell ; and again they bled, and again were ruined, by
their adherence to legitimate monarchy.''^

The High Church party now prepared to cooperate with their friends
in England. King James, having retired to France, negotiated with
Louis the Fourteenth for military and monetary advances, to enable him
to attempt the preservation of Ireland as an independent dominion.

An attempt was now made, in the north of Ireland, to raise the stand-
ard of revolt against King James, by Major Poor, and some others,
turning out in arms, in the name of the Prince of Orange. Poor and
his party were met and defeated by young Bellew, of Lowth, in the
name of King James.

It was then that the nobility of Ireland raised, clothed, equipped, and
armed, partly at their own expense, thirty thousand men for the king's
service. There were already some old corps in Ireland, viz., the regi-
ments of Mountcashel, Tyrconnel, Clancarty, Antrim, and some oth-
ers. The regiments of Enniskillen, of Hugh M'Mahon, Edward Boy
O'Reilly, M'Donnel, Maginnis, Cormac O'Neill, Gordon O'Neill, Felix
O'Neill, Brian O'Neill, Connact Maguire, O'Donnell, Nugent, Lutter-
rell, Fitzgerald, Galmoy, O'Morra, and Clare, &,c., soon appeared in
the field. There was no want of soldiers, but the soldiers were in want
of almost every thing, except courage and good-will ; and the nobles,
who underwent the first expense, were not able to support it long.
There were also but few officers who knew military tactics, or who had
time to train and discipline the new levies. In the month of March, the
Earl of Tyrconnel sent Richard Hamilton, lieutenant-general of the
king's army, at the head of two thousand men, against Hugh Montgom-

VICTORIOUS IN THE NORTH. 'PRENTICE BOYS OF DERRT. 751

ery, Lord Mount Alexander, who had raised a regiment for the Prince
of Orange, and was at the head of eight thousand rebels in Ulster.
Hamilton set out from Drogheda on the 8th of March, and came up with
the enemy, who were boldly drawn up in order of battle at Cladyfort.
Notwithstanding the superior number of the rebels, the royalists attacked
them so vigorously that they took to flight, and retreated in disorder
towards Hillsborough, where Montgomery left two companies of infantry
in garrison. He sent the remainder of his forces to Coleraine, under Sir
Arthur Rydon, and. sailed for England from Donaghadee. The resist-
ance of Derry began in the following way.

"Tyrconnel had withdrawn the garrison from Londonderry, on the first intelli-
gence reaching him of William's invasion of England. But soon perceiving the
error he had committed in leaving this important place to the government of its
Protestant inhabitants, he despatched tlie Earl of Antrim to take possession of it
with a body of twelve thousand Scottish Highlanders. This wild and savage-
looking force, whose exploits in the west of Scotland had spread a general horror
throughout the land, had halted at the village of Limavaddy, about twelve miles
from the city, at the very time when the rumor of the intended massacre reached
the ears of the people of Londonderry. The citizens, alarmed at the approaching
danger, were collected in the streets, consulting as to what was to be done, when
messengers arrived from the village where the Highlanders had halted, giving the
most alarming account of their numbers and savage appearance. There was
obviously no time to lose. Already were two companies of the force in sight,
and two officers of the corps were actually in the town seeking quarters for their
men, when, at this critical moment, nine young men of the populace, ' 'prentice
lads,' as tliey were termed, drawing their swords, snatched up the keys of the city,
and making towards the ferry-gate, they suddenly raised the drawbridge, and
shut the gates in the face of the approaching enemy. The adventurous spirit of
the youths spread like wildfire. They were soon joined by numbers of citizens of
their own class, and the guns were pointed against the advancing troops, who
retired without further trouble. The example of Derry quickened the Protestant
spirit of the north ; numbers of men from the surrounding neighborhood flocked
into the city to aid in its defence ; and several other places, Enniskillen among
the number, determined also to hold out for tlie Protestant cause."

King James was still in France, and saw how favorably disposed his
Irish subjects were towards him, the greater part of whom had continued
faithful ; only three small towns, Londonderry, Coleraine, and Culinor,
having rebelled in favor of the Prince of Orange. The English party in
Ireland pressed William to send the necessary succors to support these
towns. The royalists thought James's presence might be a check to the
enemy ; and being encouraged and assisted by France, he set sail with the
celebrated Gabaret, and landed at Kinsale in March, accompanied by
some French officers. At Cork he was joined by the Earl of Tyrconnel,

752 SUCCESS OF THE IRISH ARMY.

whom he created duke, and proceeded to Dublin, in the midst of a
magnificent procession of forty thousand courageous Irish soldiers.

The Duke of Berwick, his natural son, accompanied by several officers,
arrived in the camp of Hamilton before Coleraine ; and the same night
the general was informed that the enemy had abandoned the place,
after having broken the bridge. The day following he entered Cole-
raine, and having repaired the bridge, and given the command of the
place to Colonel O'Morra, he marched to Strabane, where he refreshed
his troops and held a council of war. Here it was understood, through
a letter, that the troops of Enniskillen and Deny, making in the whole
about ten thousand men, were collected at Clodybridge, on the River
Finn, under the orders of Major-Geueral Lundee, for the purpose of
opposing the royal army. After the contents of this letter were com-
municated, the council determined to march and attack the rebels.
Hamilton set out with his army, and found, on his arrival, that the fiftt
arch of the bridge was broken, and a fort built on the other side, defend-
ed by two thousand men, drawn out in order of battle, upon an eminence
near the fort. To surmount these difficulties, General Hamilton posted
six companies of musketeers, with orders to fire on those who were
guarding the fort, for the purpose of covering some workmen sent to
repair the bridge. Every thing was done with the greatest order : the
arch being repaired with planks and pieces of wood, the infantry passed
over without difficulty, while the cavalry was crossing the river in view
of the enemy. This intrepid act disconcerted the rebels : not only
those who were guarding the fort, but the whole army took to flight,
some of whom retreated to Derry, and some to Enniskillen. They were
pursued to Raphoe by the royalist troops, who killed many of them, with-
out any loss on their own side, except that of Robert Nangle, major in the
regiment of Tyrconnel. After this advantage over the rebels, General
Lundee, who commanded them, surrendered at Culraor, and embarked
for England. Several other lesser battles were fought between both
parties, too tedious to be inserted in this work.

Hamilton found abundance of provisions at Raphoe, where he stopped,
and was joined by Ijord Galmoy at the head of eight hundred men
from the garrison of Trim. During his stay there, he received some
deputies from Derry, who offered to capitulate. This garrison consisted
of six thousand men; and the general, who knew the importance of the
place, promised them their lives, properties, and protection, on con-
dition that the city would surrender at twelve o'clock next day, which
terms icere accepted and ratified on both sides.

The king, who had stopped in Dublin, wishing to benefit by the first

James's defeat at derry, — his imbecility. lo'J

moments of ardor which his presence excited among those of his own
party, marched directly to the north. The rebels were not a little
alarmed at this, having previously given up Coleraine and Cultnor.
The prince, accompanied by M. Rose, the deputy-marshal of France,
Lord Melford, and some troops, arrived at St. Johnstown, between
Raphoe and Derry, on the same day that Hamilton was in treaty with
the deputies. The eagerness of the general to compliment the king on
his arrival, made him likewise eager to give him an account of the cam-
paign. The monarch signified to General Hamilton his disj)leasure at
the terms he was about to grant to the rebels of Derry, and marched
himself directly for that town, whh the fresh troops he had with him,
and immediately summoned it to surrender at discretion. Tliis change
made by the king, from the terms previously agreed upon, gave great
alarm to the garrison. It had been stipulated that the king's troops
should not advance till the place would be evacuated ; and now they
began to doubt his sincerity. It was determined, therefore, to defend the
town to the last extremity, while waiting for succors that were expected
from England. At this juncture, a Protestant minister, named Walker,
took the command of the garrison, and infused great courage into the
hearts of his party.

The siege was now begun. The royal army was reenforced by some
newly-raised troops, who were as yet undisciplined. The whole then
amounted to ten thousand men. The trenches were opened before the
place, and the garrison was so straitened for provisions that they were
at length forced to eat dogs, cats, &lc. To lighten their numbers, six
companies, belonging to Lord Mountjoy's regiment of infontry, were
embarked and sent away. The garrison was well provided with warlike
stores of every kind, and it had forty pieces of cannon planted upon
the walls, which played on the besiegers. The succors by which the
Prince of Orange intended to relieve Derry soon made their appear-
ance. An English fleet of twenty ships of war, and three hundred
transport-vessels laden with provisions, warlike stores, and six thousand
troops, under the command of Major-Gen eral Kirke, appeared in
Loughfoyle, in the beginning of August. Having relieved the be-
sieged, just as they were on the point of surrendering, the royalists were
forced to withdraw on the 10th of August, after a siege of seventy-
three days, resisted with extraordinary bravery by the Protestant garri-
son. King James then ordered Hamilton to lead the army towards
Dublin, to oppose Marshal Schomberg, who was expected to land with
an army in the neighborhood of that city. Hamilton obeyed the king's
95

754 IMBECILITY OF JA?.IES.

orders, first placing a garrison in Cliarleinont, under Capia'i: OTteyan,
an officer of high repute.

In the mean time, Schomberg landed between Carrickfergus and
Belfast, and besieged the former town, which was under the command
of M'Carty More, who, having but one barrel of powder, was forced to
surrender the castle after a feeble defence. Schomberg then proceeded
towards Dundalk.

The king, being arrived at Drogheda, sent two lieutenants, Butler of
Kilcop, and Garland, each at the head of a detachment, to reconnoitre
the enemy. They brought back word that Schomberg was encamped ;
that his right wing was stretched along Castle-Bellew, his centre ex-
tended towards Dundalk, and his left towards the sea. Upon this, the
king marched towards Ardee, where he stopped, and, the day following,
sent General Hamilton, with the whole of the cavalry, to the village of
Aphene, where he was separated from the enemy by a bog and a small
river. The king arrived, after a few hours, with the infantry, and
encamped, for some days, in presence of the enemy. The Duke of
Tyrconnel,M. Rose, and other general officers of the army, were for
attacking the enemy. The opportunity was a favorable one, as sickness
had got in among Schomberg's troops, and out of twelve thousand men,
of whom his army was at first composed, there were not more than
three thousand remaining in health ; so that, if the proposed attack had
been undertaken, Schomberg would have been forced to decamp, and
return to his ships, three of which were in the harbor of Dundalk,

The king, by the advice of his general officers, put his army in order
of battle, and marched with a design of turning the enemy, on the side
of the morass. This proved only an ostentatious parade ; as scarcely
had they marched a league, when he ordered the troops to return to
their camp, ivhere they continued till October, without making any
further attempt.

" If it were permitted to censure the conduct of a wise and virtuous
king," says M'Geoghegan, " James the Second might be reproached
with having committed two egregious oversights, which deeply affected
his cause, and eventually caused the loss of Ireland. At Derry, he
rejected, contrary to sound policy, a capitulation entered into between
General Hamilton and the garrison of that city. This would have put
into his hands that important place. It was the magazine of the north,
and, besides being an arsenal, it afforded to his enemies, by its situation,
an easy entrance into the kingdom. At Dundalk, he showed a weak
compassion for the English, and an imprudent clemency towards subjects

THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE. 755

armed against their sovereign, and ready to tear the sceptre from his
hands, after they had violated all the respect due to royalty. It was in
these circumstances that Monsieur Rose, according to Larrey, ob-
served to the king, ' Sire, if you possessed a hundred kingdoms,
you would lose them.' "

King James and his army decamped the 10th of October, in presence
of the exulting enemy, and lay all the winter idle in their quarters.
Towards spring, he withdrew to Ardee and to Drogheda, and was soon
joined by Sarsfield, from Sligo, who had routed and destroyed all the
king's enemies there. And had James now marched against Schom-
berg, with the victorious Sarsfield, all would have been saved.

At length. King William came over in person, bringing with him as
strong a force as he could muster ; joining Schomberg, and increasing
his army to thirty-eight thousand men. With this force he marched to-
wards King James's army, now stationed on the Boyne. The Duke
of Berwick makes James's arm}^ twenty-three thousand, and that of
the enemy forty-five thousand ; of which M'Geoghegan proves that
thirty-eight thousand were at the Boyne, under the command of
"W^illiam.

Finding the most circumstantial history of the celebrated battle of
the Boyne in an English histoi'ian, (Smiles,) I transcribe it entire: —

" William reached the Boyne, at the head of his advanced guard, early on the
morning of the 30th of June. After carefully surveying the lines of the Irish
on the opposite side of the river, he resolved to force the passage on the following
day. As his army was marching into camp, he himself went out to reconnoitre
with some of his staff. The rich plains of Meath were within sight ; the clear
and joyous river ran sparkling through a fair and fertile pasture land ; and the
very summits of the hills were clad in verdure. ' Behold,' said William, turning
to his officers — ' behold a land worth fighting for ! ' As he advanced along the
left bank, however, a circumstance occurred which had nearly proved fatal to
William, and checked the career of his ambition. He had advanced to within
musket-shot of Oldbridge, on the opposite side, Avhen he fixed on the place where
his batteries were to be planted, and decided upon the spot at which his army
should pass the river ; after which, he alighted, and sat down to refresh hunself
on a rising ground. The motions of William and his staff were carefully-
watched from the other side of the river. Berwick, Tyrconnel, Sarsfield, and
some other generals, observed the position of William, and ordered up a detach-
ment of men with two field-pieces, which immediately opened a fire on the
opposite party. William, however, saw his danger, and took to horse ; but, ere
he could do tliis, a man and two horses alongside of him were killed by the
first shot ; the second had like to have proved fatal to him ; the ball, having struck
the bank of the river, rising en ricochet, slanted on the king's right shoulder,
took out a piece of his coat, and tore the skin and flesh. Some confusion
immediately took place among the attendants of William, and he rode off, stoop-

756 THE BATTLE OF THE BOTNE.

ing in his saddle ; on seeing -which, the report immediately arose in the Irish
army that the Prince of Orange was killed. This intelligence was immediately
conveyed to Dublin, and from thence to tlie continent, where it caused both sad-
ness and rejoicing. At Paris, the guns of the batteries were fired, the church bells
were set ringing, and bonfires were lit in the streets, in commemoration of the
event William, however, was but slightly hurt; and, having got his wound
dressed, he continued on horseback during the greater part of the day.

On the side of James, there was little of the resolute detennination that was so
conspicuous on the part of his opponent. After his sudden bravado, the cowardly
monarch gradually cooled down, until he at length became as anxious to avoid an
engagement as he had formerly been to court one. At the appearance of Wil-
liam's army marching into quarters, on the opposite side of the Boyne, the last
vestiges of James's courage completely evaporated. A council of war was held
late in the evening, when the French generals, who had perceived William's
superiority in numbers and artillery, seconded James in his eiForts to avert an en-
counter. On the other hand, the Irish generals were eager to engage with the
enemy, and urged that William's passage of the Boyne should be desperately
resisted. The result was, that James resolved to risk a partial battle, keeping
himself out of harm's way tlie while, and then to retreat, by the pass of Duleek,
without risking a general action. Hamilton, the Irish general, advised the send-
ing of eight regiments to protect the bridge of Slane, a post of great conse-
quence, inasmuch as it commanded the left of James's position, and there was
little doubt that William's right wing would there attempt a passage ; but James
received the proposition with indifference, and said he would order thither fifty
dragoons ! Hamilton, surprised and chagrined, bowed, and was silent. In the
mean time, James, in anticipation of a retreat, ordered the baggage and tlie
principal part of the artillery to be immediately sent forward to Dublin. The
fighting part of the affair on the morrow was intrusted to the Irish ; while the six
thousand French, the best-appointed part of the army, were to take care of the
wretched monarch, and conduct him in safety from the field of battle. Thus did
James deliberately make his preparations to throw away his last chance for his
awn throne, and to sacrifice, without a struggle, his brave and loyal adherents
among the Irish people.

At William's council, a veiy different spirit prevailed. The mind of the-leader
gives the tone to every council. W^illiam was resolute, and bent on an engage-
ment. He at once declared his determination to cross the river, on the morrow,
in front of the enemy. The hazardous nature of such an attempt, however,
startled some of William's best officers. Duke Schomberg, now above eighty
years of age, endeavored to dissuade him from the enterprise. When he could
not prevail, he urged that a strong body of men should be immediately detached
to secure the bridge of Slane, so as to flank the enemy, and cut them oft' from the
pass of Duleek. Schomberg's advice was received with indifference, and the old
general retired, it is said, in disgust: he afterwards received the order of battle in
his tent, remarking, that it had been ' the first ever sent to him.' The order of
William was, that the river should be passed in three places — by his right wing,
commanded by Count Schomberg (son of the duke) and Lieutenant-General
Douglas, at the fords near the bridge of Slane, — the former commanding the
cavalry, the latter tiie infantry ; by the centre, commanded by Duke Schomberg ;

THE BATTLE OF THE BOTNE. i O i

and by the left wing, commanded by William in person. Orders were issued that
every soldier should be provided with a plentiful stock of ammunition, and that
all should be ready to march by break of day, and that every man should wear a
green bough or sprig- in his hat, to distinguish them from the Irish, who wore
tlie white cockade. He rode through his whole army, about twelve o'clock at
night, inspecting them by torch-light; and, after giving out the pass-word, ' West-
minster,' he retired to his tent, impatient for the struggle of the morrow.

The shades of night lay still and quiet over the sleeping host. The stars
looked down in peace upon tliese sixty thousand brothers of one great human
family, ready to rise with the sun, and imbue their hands in each other's blood.
God and nature had formed them in one common hnage, and breathed into them a
deep sympathy for tlieir kind ; but t}Tant factions and warring creeds had set
them at bitter enmity to each otlier, and turned all the sweetness of their exist-
ence into gall. Nature now lay peaceful around them, as a sleeping child ; a few
twinkling lights gleamed through tlie dark, from tlie distant watchtowers of
Drogheda ; the murmur of the river which separated the two armies fell faintly
on the ear ; and the only sounds of life which arose from the vast host that now
lay encamped in the valley of tlie Boyne, were the hoarse challenges of tlie sen-
tinels, as they paced their midnight rounds.

The sun rose clear and beautiful. It was the first day of July — an ever-
memorable day to poor Ireland. The generate was beat in the camp of William
before daybreak ; and, as soon as the sun was up, the battle commenced. Count
Schomberg and General Douglas at once moved forward with the right wing
towards Slane. The Irish also brought up their left wing towards the same
place ; but tliey were t<;o late, owing to James's indecision of the previous night.
Before their resistance could be brought to bear with effect upon the enemy's
ranks, they had dashed into the river and forded it there. After a smart fight, the
Irish retreated, and ten thousand English horse, foot, and artillery, gained a firm
footing upon the right bank of the Boyne. There still, however, lay between
them and the Irish position several fields enclosed by deep ditches difficult to be
crossed ; and beyond these lay the morass, which was a still more embarrassing
obstacle in their way. They forced their way through, nevertheless ; when the
Irish fled towards Duleek, and were pursued with great slaughter.

The centre, under Duke Schomberg, so soon as it was supposed that the
right wing had effected their passage, prepared to enter the river at Oldbridge.
The Dutch blue guards, beating a march till they reached the water's edge, then
went in eight or ten abreast, the water reaching above their girdles. When they
had gained the centre of the stream, they were saluted with a tremendous fire
from the breastworks, houses, and hedges, on the Irish side of the river. But
tliey pushed on, and, reaching the opposite bank, drove the Irish skirmishers before
them. Hamilton now brouglit tlie Irish battalions of infantry to bear on them,
but without effect. The Irish cavalry also charged them with vigor, but the
Dutch squares remained unbroken. William, observing that his flivorite troops
were hardly pressed, ordered two regiments of French Huguenots and one Eng-
lish regiment to their assistance. Hamilton's infantry met them in the stream,
yet they made good their passage. But a body of Irish dragoons, at the moment
of tlieir landing, charged them on their flank, broke their ranks, and cut the
greater part of them to pieces. Caillemote, their commander, was killed, dying,

758 THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE.

like a Frenchman, with the Avords in his mouth — ^ A la gloire, mes en/am! A la
gloire!' [To glorj', my sons! to glory!] A squadron of Danish horse now
pushed across ; but the Irish dragoons, in another of their dashing charges, broke
and defeated them in a moment, driving them back across the river in great con-
fusion and dismay.

The brilliant, rapid, and successful attacks of the Irish cavalry spread a gen
eral alarm through the ranks of the enemy. As they approached, the general cry
of ' Horse ! horse ! ' was raised, which was mistaken, by William's advancing
soldiers, for 'Halt! halt!' The confusion was rapidly extending, when old
Schomberg, perceiving the disorder, and that the remaining French Huguenots
had no commander to lead them, crossed the river witli a few followers, and put
himself at their head. Pointing to the Frenchmen in James's ranks, he cried,
'■Allans, messieurs, voila vos persecuteurs ! ^ [Onward, men! behold your perse-
cutors !] and was preparing to rush forward ; but scarcely were these words out
of his mouth, ere he was shot through the neck by an Irish dragoon, or, as some
supposed, by a fatal mistake of one of his own men.

The critical moment had now arrived. The enemy's centre was in complete
confusion. The Irish cavalry rode through their ranks. Their leaders, Schom-
berg and Caillemote, were both killed ; and the men were waiting for orders, ex-
posed to the galling fire of the Irish infantry and the furious charges of their
cavalry. Had James improved the moment, and ordered the French troops to the
instant aid of the Irish, there can be little doubt but the day would have been de-
cided in his favor. But James looked idly down from the heights of Donore, sur-
rounded by his unoccupied French body-guard of six thousand men, — a safe and
inglorious spectator of a struggle, on the issue of which his crown depended. He
watched the tide of battle veering, now here, now there ; his enemies pushing
their way in triumph, and the brave Irish falling beneath the swords of the
foreigner ; then the dashing charge of the Irish cavalry, the rout, the meUe, the
pursuit. Now was the time for the electric word, ' Onward ! ' to be sent along the
line. But no ; the miserable monarch did not even sympathize with the success
of his own soldiers ; for it is said that, on observing the Irish dragoons of Hamil-
ton cleaving down the cavalry, and riding over the broken infantry, of William,
he exclaimed, with a mawkish sensibility, 'Spare, O spare my English sub-
jects ! '

The firing had now lasted, uninterruptedly, for more than an hour, when
William of Orange seized the opportunity to turn the tide of battle against his
spiritless adversary. He entered the action at the head of the left wing, which
consisted chiefly of Dutch, Danish, and English cavalry, and directed it upon
James's centre, ivhere the Irish now had the decided advantage. Crossing the
river through a dangerous and difficult pass, in which he was exposed to con-
siderable danger, he made his appearance at the head of his squadrons, with hia
drawn sword, and soon forced back the Irish infantry. But the Irish dragoons
still maintained their superiority. They again vigorously charged the foreign
troops, and completely broke their ranks. William hastened up to the Ennis-
killeners, and asked, ' What will you do for me ? ' They answered by a shout,
and immediately declared their readiness to follow him. They advanced ; but at
the first volley from the Irish ranks, they wheeled and fled. On William
bringing up his Dutch cavalry, they returned again to the charge. The struggle
now became very close, and the superior strength of William began to tell. The

THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE. 759

Irish, unsupported as they were by their French allies, -while William's entire army
was in action, slowly gave way ; but again and again they rallied, driving back
the enemy ; the Irish cavalry, dashing in among the advancing troops, scorning all
toil and danger. William fought with great courage, mingling in the hottest part
of the fight. Several times he was driven back by the Irish horse ; but at last his
superior physical power enabled him to force back the Irish troops, and they re-
tired slowly towards Donore. Here they again made a gallant stand, beating
back the troops of William several times. The fann-house of Sheephouse for a
long time withstood their attacks, and was taken and retaken again and again.
Again Hamilton endeavored to retrieve the fortune of the day, by a desperate
charge at the head of his horse. The British infantry witlistood the furious
shock ; the cavalry were repulsed ; and Hamilton, their general, was left a
prisoner in the hands of the enemy. Having thus resisted to tlie last, tlie Irish
retreated slowly to the pass of Duleek.

James had already meditated a retreat with his French troops. Sarsfield had
implored him to put himself at their head, and make a last effort for his crown.
With six thousand fresh men coming into the field when the enemy's troops were
exhausted by fatigue, there is little doubt but James would have succeeded. But
the effort would cost him trouble, exertion, danger, — neither of which the royal
poltroon would risk. Accordingly, James put himself at the head of his French
troops, — the first occasion on which he had led in the course of the day, — and
set out on his route towards Dublin, leaving tlie rear of his army to shift for
themselves.

The Irish army now poured through the pass ; and when they had reached the
other side, they faced about, and vigorously defended it with their scanty artillery.
From Duleek they pressed forward towards the Neal, another defile on their
route, the enemy following without pressing upon them at all, until night closed
upon the rival armies, and William sat down with his army on the ground which
James had occupied in the morning.

Though ' the Boyne ' has since become a party word of triumph among the
Protestants of Ireland, it seems to us that, after all, there was very little to boast
of at the close of that day's battle. All the advantage that William had gained
was, that he had succeeded in crossing the Boyne, in the face of a very inferior
force — inferior in numbers, in appointments, in discipline, and in artillery. His
best troops had been repeatedly repulsed ; his best generals killed. William him-
self was compelled to fall back, and more than once was in danger of overthrow ;
and would have been overthrown, but for his great superiority in cavalry, infantry,
and artillery. The best part of James's force, the French, were never brought
into action. Yet, with all these disadvantages, the issue was doubtful even to the
close of the day. William gained nothing but the ground on which his army
encamped at night, and the dead bodies with which the field was strewed ; for,
with the exception of Hamilton, he made no prisoners ; neither did he take any
spoil from the Irish, who retreated in excellent order, with all their baggage and
artillery. There is little doiibt that, had not the Irish the misfortune to be com-
manded by a coward, the result would have been very different The cry of the
Irish, after the battle, was, ' Change generals, and we will fight the battle over
again.' The brilliant and successful charges of the Irish cavalry under Hamilton,
showed what might have been accomplished had James but possessed a tithe of
the chivalrous spirit of this leader. The Boyne was neitlier more nor less than

760

SIEGE OF ATHLONE. DEFEAT OF THE ENGLISH.

a drawn battle, tliough to William it had all the advantages of a complete
victory."

I compress from O'Callaghan a few additional remarks on tiiis un-
fortunate battle : —

" The attacking force at the Boyne was thirty-six thousand men, wanting for
nothing, with fifty pieces of cannon ; that of the Irish was fourteen thousand
Irish, six thousand French, — total, twenty thousand men, with only six pieces
of cannon. The Irish were newly-raised, undisciplined troops ; while those of
William were veterans, most of whom had fought on the Continent, and led by
William, one of the most indefatigable captains of his own or any age. On the
other hand, if it be true, according to Chabrias, the Athenian general, that ' an
army of stags led by a lion would be better than an army of lions led by a stag,'
what a great disadvantage and discouragement tlie Irish suffered in being led
by such an imbecile, nay, sach an absolute runaway, as James; yet, after the
action, which lasted from six in the morning till night, the Irish were found to
have lost only one thousand men and one cannon ; while the English lost five
hundred men, and their best general, Schomberg ; and it is supposed their loss
was far more than five hundred, for, on the review of their army at Finglas, after
the battle, the muster-roll did not exceed thirty thousand. The pass at Oldbridge
was guarded by the Irish with great valor. The English charged ten times, and
were as often repulsed in tlie course of the day. The Irish yielded that point to a
force more than double their number."

The Irish army, under Tyrconnel and Sarsfield, made good their
retreat to the fortifications on the western side of the Shannon, fighting
their way with their pursuers the entire distance. They secured their
positions, however, in the strongholds of Shgo, Athlone, Limerick, and
Cork.

King William sent General Douglas, with eight thousand men, to take
Athlone. It was well fortified. The town was built on both sides of
the River Shannon, over which there was a single connecting bridge.
On the English side of the town, the fortifications were light ; but on the
Irish side, the batteries were stoutly built, and well furnished with heavy
guns. This garrison was under the command of Colonel Grace, a brave
old Irish officer, who had fought against Cromwell, and defended Ath-
lone twice before. His effective force was eight hundred men, though
the English make the eight hundred two thousand. However, the
English brought before the town eight thousand seven hundred and
ninety-four men, twelve cannon, and two mortars. At the approach
of the enemy, Colonel Grace broke down the bridge, and betook him-
self to the Irish side of the river. When called upon to surrender, that
heroic chieftain replied by firing a pistol over the messenger's head,
exclaiming," These are my terms." The assault commenced, and was
continued day and night, by the assailants, with the greatest fury, resisted

EXPLOIT OF SARSFIELD.

761

with heroic bravery, accompanied by the shouts of hearty defiance
from the besieged.

After seven days' firing on the town, Douglas, having lost three
hundred and thirty men, drew off his forces to Limerick, where he
joined King William, who was now preparing to attack that city.

Having now Dublin, Drogheda, Carrickfergus, Londonderry, Ar-
magh, Wexford, Waterford, and Duncannon garrisons in his possession,
W^illiam laid furious siege to Limerick, as being the key to the west
and south of Ireland. About three eighths of the kingdom were still in
possession of the Irish. Their king, for whom, and for the rights of
conscience, they had taken up arms, had left them to their fate. The
half of their French allies had returned to France, at the instigation of
the French commander, the ignoble Lauson, who marched out of
Limerick just as King William appeared before the walls. But who
could be expected to support the cause of a runaway prince? The
Irish, under all these circumstances, had determined to make a death-
like stand for their country ^nd their freedom.

King William's besieging army, before the walls of Limerick, now
amounted to twenty-five thousand men, with a considerable train of
artillery ; that of the Irish on the other side amounted to twenty
thousand, of which ten thousand only were armed. The Irish lay
within a strong-walled garrison, protected by the current of the river,
which washed part of its base, and, being considerably animated by
the bravery of the Athlone garrison, awaited the attack with undaunted
hearts. King William had ordered to his assistance a considerable park
of artillery, and great quantities of ammunition, which were on their way
to him from Dublin.

Sarsfield, hearing of it, went up the river twelve miles from Limerick,
and, with a party of chosen cavalry, crossed over to the rear of William's
army, hung in the mountains, and waited the coming of those supplies
from Dublin. William, hearing of his move, sent an additional guard
of five hundred cavalry to protect the ammunition, which met the
cavalcade and artillery, and conducted them to within five miles of
William's camp ; and here, thinking Sarsfield would not have audacity
enough to come near them, being overborne with fatigue, encamped for
the night. Sarsfield watched them, fell on them while their horses
were grazing, destroyed them as they rose to meet him, leaving not one
of them alive to escape. He then filled all their cannon with their own
gunpowder, buried the muzzles in the earth, piled their baggage and
waggons on the top, and, by a well-fixed train, blew all up into atoms,
96

762 ASSAULT ON LIMERICK. HEROIC DEFENCE.

the explosion of which was heard in William's camp, and fifteen miles'
distance all around.

Although the English were now out on all sides to intercept Sarsfield,
yet he cut his way through his enemies, carried off a considerable
booty, recovered his position behind the walls of Limerick, by the
morning's light, and there communicated the utmost enthusiasm to the
garrison.

King William was amazed at the bravery and skill of Sarsfield,
whom, as he said, he did not believe capable of such an able
manosuvre. William, though disturbed in his operations, prosecuted
the siege with vigor. Playing with forty pieces of ordnance, for twenty-
seven days, on the walls, he at length effected a breach thirty -six feet
wide. He now ordered an assault, which was made by six thousand
men, supported by a reserve of eight thousand, all excited to the highest
pitch of enthusiasm by the presence and example of their king.

The besieged watched all the preparations of the enemy, and were
ready for a desperate resistance. A dead silence reigned alike in the
camp of the besiegers and in the city. The silence was broken by three
cannon-shois, the signal of attack. And now the stormers spring
forward to the breach : as they approach, the Irish open on ihem a
terrible discharge. They press on to the breach amidst a tremendous
fire, fighting foot to foot, and hand to hand ; and now the advance men
enter ; the Irish close behind them, they are all cut to pieces ; new
chargers press on ; they come faster and more furious ; the shouts of
the combatants, and the groans of the wounded, are drowned by the din
of the besiegers' cannon thundering against the walls ; the Irish oppose
themselves in masses to the progress of the invader. The invaders
enter the breach, fight for four hours under cover of the thunder of
thirty pieces of artillery, and what remain unkilled of them retreat
dismayed. The Irish women fought with desperate fury ; they flung
themselves into the ranks with the men, which gready animated them ;
and a struggle was sustained which illumines the page of Irish history,
and flings a radiance on their posterity that yet will light them to
victory.

The English, under cover of their artillery, returned a second time
to the breach, but were equally unsuccessful. On this occasion, they
were driven out quicker than before, and pursued to their very camp by
the Irish, to the great distress and dismay of King William, who rebuked
his commanders with bitterness. If the Irish lost one thousand men
at the Boyne, the English lost more than two thousand men here,
together with one hundred and fifty-eight officers killed and wounded.

iiING WILLIAM RAISES THE SIEGE. 763

The English Parson Story, who accompanied William, and wrote
an account of his wars in Ireland, thus describes the bravery of the
Limerick women ; to be seen in O'Callaghan's Green Book, 200 : —

" The Irish then ventured upon the breach again, and from the walls and
every place so pestered us upon the counterscarp, that after nigh three hours
resisting bullets, stones, [from the very women, who boldly stood in the breach,

FIGHTING WITH SUCH WEAPONS AS THEY COULD CATCH FROM THE SLAIN,

AND WERE NEARER TO OUR MEN THAN TO THEIR OWN ! ) and whatever ways
could be thought on to destroy us, our ammunition being spent, it was judged
safest to return to our trenches." — Impartial History, by Story, p. 129.

" The battle was described as so terrific, by a looker-on," says O'Cal-
laghan, " that, with the thunder of the cannon and the roar of the
musketry, the very skies appeared rending asunder ; the smoke that
came from the town reached, in one continued cloud, to the top of a
mountain at least six miles off" 1 And yet the women and the men of
Limerick stood, during this thunder, in the very eye of death, and
clashed with the lightning of the invader, and struck him to the earth.

0 illustrious women and men 1 where is the hand to sound your
praises ! Where are " Cormac's bards," to give your deeds to immortal
song 1 But your bright deeds shall live in our hearts, and light the
patriots of other ages to victory 1

1 pity the cold heart that can read these things unmoved. I agree
with O'Callaghan that —

"The MAN that is not moved witli what he reads,
That takes not fixe at such heroic deeds.
Unworthy of the blessings of the brave.
Is base in kind, and born to be a slave!

I am not one of these. 1 feel the influence of their inspiring deeds
enter into my soul, and I inscribe to their glorious memories the homage
of my heart in song: —

Hurrah for the heroes of Limerick town !

Whom the power of William could never put down !

Hurrah for brave Sarsfield ! though dead m his grave,

His spirit yet fires the valiant and brave.

And if ever the day shall come again,

When Lim'rick women and Limerick men

Shall be called to the breach to defend their own land,

May we be all there just to give them a hand!

The Prince of Orange asked the garrison for a cessation of arms, to
bury his dead, which was " haughtily refused ; " and, finally, in a few
days after this defeat, he was compelled to raise the siege. The Eing-

764

KING JAMES S IMBECILITY.

lish army decamped in great disorder under General Ginckle, after setting
fire to the houses in wliich the sick and wounded lay. They marched
from thence to Birr, while, in the mean time. King William had himself
escorted to Waterford, where he embarked for England.

I cannot dismiss this brilliant page in Irish history, without weighing
and considering the discouraging circumstances under which so signal a
victory was won.

In the first place, King James refused to confirm the terms of ca-
pitulation, made by his able General, Hamilton, with the Derry men,
by which they agreed to give up the garrison, conVam'ing forty pieces of
cannon and sixty thousand stand of arms, to Hamilton ; which the king
refused to confirm unless they submitted to his mercy, thereby rendering
them liable to be tried and hanged as rebels, which they apprehending,
returned to their dt^fence, and fought it out bravely, living on dogs, cats,
and rats, for several weeks, till succor arrived, which obliged King
James to raise the siege, after his army had dwindled away to half their
original number.

In the second place. King James allowed the invading army, which
first arrived in Ireland under Schomberg, to remain unmolested several
months in Newry, though fully able to attack them ; especially, more-
over, as the majority of Schomberg's twelve or fourteen thousand men
were taken ill with a sort of plague, which rendered more than five thou-
sand of them totally unfit for service ; and this, forsooth, out of hu-
manity io'wards his English subjects.

In the third place. King James refused, though strongly pressed by
his Irish commanders, Tyrconnel, Sarsfield, and Sir Neal O'Neal, the
night before the battle of the Boyne, to place a strong guard at the pass
over that river, at Old Bridge, the neglect of which enabled the British
to come upon the flank of the Irish army.

In the fourth place. King James, instead of coming to the aid of his
troops in the crisis of that battle, with his reserve of six thousand French,
fled the field ere it terminated, and, instead of rallying an Irish regiment,
that temporarily gave way near him, he himself, who had all at stake,
took to flight ! for which the Irish have called him, from that day to the
present, " Shemus a hocha," which, in English, means Jemmy the dirty.

In the fifth place, King James, on his return to France, met with a
French fleet, under De Seignelay, sent to his support by the king of
France, whose orders were to cruise round the coast of Ireland, to watch
and destroy the transports bringing ammunition and provisions to King
William ; but, instead of allowing them to proceed on their duty, he
induced the fleet to return, as a convoy to protect himself in his flight.

Marlborough's perfidy. 765

In the sixth place, Lauson, the French commander, who retreated on
Limerick, with the Irish army from the Boyne, withdrew from the aid of
that garrison. " As soon as the enemy had appeared before Limerick,
the French general, with all his troops, marched straight to Galway,
taking with him a great quantity of ammunition," &tc. — Vide King
James's Memoirs.

In the seventh place, Boislau, the French governor of Limerick, dur-
ing the assault, ordered several battalions y?'om the breach, xvhich had he

BEEN OBEYED IN, THE TOWN HAD BEEN LOST. This is prOVed by King

James's Memoirs ; and Mr. O'Callaghan considers that these French
generals had been bribed to act in this way, and, to justify this view,
produces the postscript of a letter written from King William's camp
before Limerick, by Sir Arthur Rawden, three days after the battle, name-
ly, 29th August, 1690. After having said, "We never have received
such a foil," the writer adds, " We got their countersign — got into the
breach — but were beaten back." — Rawden Papers, pp. 337 and 338.

So that, considering all these circumstances, — the mismanagement of
the king, the abandonment or treachery of allies, and the unlucky re-
verses previously encountered, — the defence of Limerick by the Irish
alone equals, if it does not surpass, the bravest and brightest military
exploit on the page of universal history.

Soon after this, the famous Marlborough was sent by King William
to Cork, with ten thousand men and some ships of war. Cork and
Kinsale were reduced by him, after a brave defence of some days on the
part of the Irish under Magelligot in Cork and M'Carthy in Kinsale,
who, however, ere their little band surrendered, had consumed all their
powder, and obtained a capitulation as " prisoners of war," which was
perfidiously broken through by Marlborough. The prisoners were
starved in prison, the dead left unburied, and disease carried off the ma-
jority of four thousand men who surrendered. These English have no
honor in war or in peace. — See O^ Callaghan, pp. 204 and 205. — It
may be mentioned that these Irish commanders were advised to burn the
cities of Cork and Kinsale, and retire to the mountains of Kerry, which
would have been wiser, though perhaps less brave.

Marlborough, Ginckle, and Douglas, King William's chief generals,
now concerted a grand plan for the winter campaign. Their united
forces spread along the frontier line, from Cork to Enniskillen, amounted
to about forty-three thousand men. The war had already cost King
William a loss of about five thousand men, tooether with a considerable
amount of ammunition. Something decisive must be done, or his chances
of conquest would become precarious. A southern division of two thou-

766

FAILURE OF THE ENGLISH IN THE SOUTH.

sand horse and foot were ordered to penetrate Kerry, under the English
General Tatten, but were so harassed by the nimble Irish on their light, un-
shod, mountain horses, that, after two or three months' skirmishing among
the mountains, and a repulse by Colonel M'Carthy, from his strong castle
of Ross, the invaders returned to winter in Cork. Ginckle, the com-
mander-in-chief of the English, subsequently marched into Kerry with a
great force, but was even less successful than Tatten, which he avows in
his letter to the government at Dublin, in which he strongly urges King
William to treat with the Irish Catholics upon fair and liberal principles.
See O'' CallagJianh Green Book, 208 and 209. General Douglas was
equally unsuccessful against Sligo ; and the troops of the Duke of Ber-
wick, stationed on the Connaught side of the Shannon, kept the English
army busy all the winter ; insomuch that Captain O'Connor, with only
one hundred and twenty men, chased the English, at one time, as far as
Philipstown, in the King's county, which he entered sword in hand,
killed upwards of one hundred troopers, and burnt the town. The Eng-
lish Parson Story thus writes about the relative prowess of both armies,
during this winter : " We retired farther into the country, (towards Dub-
lin,) and left them (die Irish) all the passes and forts upon the Shannon,
by which means they are not to be kept in their ovk'n province of Con-
naught, as they might have been, but can keep us out, and also come
amongst us when they have a mind to it." — Impartial History, p. 147.
I insert an appropriate note from O'Callaghan.

"It is needless to say that the Irish had 'a mind to it,' since, in aid of those
' trips over the water,' the territory nominally in possession of the English was
overrun and ravaged as far as Kildare, Wicklow, and the counties adjacent to
Dublin, by different light parties, under various Rapparee leaders, such as Macabe,
Grace, Higgins, Callaghan, Cavanagh, the ' White Sergeant,' and ' Galloping
Hogan,' who wore called 'robbers, thieves, and bog-trotters,' by the English and
their faction, for only levying contributions and waging a system of defensive and
patriotic warfare, Avith the approbation of their legitimate sovereign, James the
Second ! similar to the hostilities which Alfred, entitled the Great, because success-
ful, carried on with his Rapparees from the woods and bogs of Somersetshire
against the Danes and the advocates of a Danish ' connection ' and ' glorious revo-
lution ! ' ' He sought,' says the historian, speaking of Alfred, ' the woods and
deserts to conceal himself. . . where there was a peninsula swrrounrfet? by swamps.
. . . Fortified in his island against a surprise from the enemy, by entrenchments of
earth and wood, he led the hard and savage life reserved, in every conquered coun-
try, for such of the vanquished as are too proud for slavery — that of n free-
booter in thAi WOODS, morasses, and defiles! At the head of his friends,
formed into bands, he plundered the Danes, laden with spoil, and, if Danes were
wanting, the Saxon who obeyed the foreigners and saluted them as his mas-
ters!^— Thieiry, vol. i. p. 110 — 112. The most distinguished, however, of those

UNSUBDUED BRAVERY OF THE IRISH. 767

brave Irish partisans who infested the Irish territory occupied by the enemy, — one
who, in the language of Milton, —

' above the rest,

In shape and gesture proudly eminent,
Stood like a tower/ —

was a gentleman of Tipperary, Anthony Carroll, surnamed Fada, or the Tall, who
possessed an estate there, and, by his influence among the Rapparecs, could, ac-
cording to Story, ' upon any alarm bring together to the number of at least two
thousand ! ' This gentleman (who, unlike our heroes of the present day, required
no special commissions or insurrection acts to protect him from his tenantry !)
seized on, garrisoned, and held the Castle of Nenagh, taken from the English
after their defeat at Limerick, and gave ' plenty to do,' through the autumn and
winter of 1690, and part of the spring and summer of 1691, during which he main-
tained himself in that stronghold, whence he made frequent excursions through
the country till the 2d of August, 1691, when, on the collection, in his neighbor-
hood, of ALL the English forces, after the battle of Aughrim, for the second siege
of Limerick, the gallant castellan of Nenagh evacuated that fortress, burned the
town, and brought away the whole of his garrison of five hundred men in safety,
towards Limerick, in spite of the pursuit of a strong party of Ginckle's cavalry,
under Brigadier Leveson and Major Wood."

With such persevering bravery, though deserted by a great portion
of their French allies, did the Irish keep up the war all that winter ; and,,
surprising as it appears, it is actually true that the regular army of the
English amounted to forty-one thousand men, when the entire population
of Ireland did not exceed one million and a half — the half of which
were in the English interest. And yet, with that thundering army
harassing them, — a greater than England ever since brought to bear on
any point of Europe, — the Irish were able {again on the invaders, to cut
up their encampments and their troops. " Their way was," says Story,
speaking of the Irish irregulars, "to make a private appointment to meet
at such a pass or wood, precisely at such a time of the night or day as
suited their conveniency ; and though you could not see a man over night,
yet, exactl}? at their hour, you might find four or five hundred, all well
armed and ready for what design they had formerly projected ; but if
they happened to be discovered or overpowered, they presently dispersed,
having beforehand appointed another place of rendezvous ten or twelve
miles distant from that where they were, by which means our men
could never fix any close engagement on them during the winter."

The summer of 1691 now opened. King William was pouring troops
into Ireland all the spring, and there was, in fine, sixty-seven English
regiments, consisting of thirty thousand foot and about seven thousand
five hundred horse, with immense quantities of arms, ammunition, clo-
thing, and money, to carry on the war ; besides which, there were under

763 MOVEMENTS OF BOTH ARMIES.

arms, on William's side, twelve thousand militia, who were placed in the
defence of towns, forts, k,c. Arms were sent into the settlements of
Protestants, who were inflamed by religious fears and frenzy towards
the Irish Catholics. Besides all which, William had now in Ireland
thirty-nine heavy cannon, twelve field-pieces, and six mortars.

On the Irish side, there were about fourteen thousand na.tives, with six
thousand French allies. Of the latter three thousand were prisoners of all
nations, taken by the French, in their battles in the Low Countries, some
of whom were actually English ; and at the Boyne three hundred of these
," allies" deserted to William's side, in presence of both armies. Louis
made great promises of assistance to King James ; he sent him two
thousand barrels of powder, eight thousand stand of small arms, — very
bad, and of little use, — but no cannon, and one million five hundred thou-
sand copper crowns, bearing King James's effigy, which were prepared at
Brest. The French assistance arrived in May, under St. Ruth. That
general brought over some provisions, ammunition, and clothing ; and
now the entire force of Ireland was placed, by James, under the chief
command of the French Marshal St. Ruth, and amounted to twenty
thousand men, the chief part of which moved on the western side of
the Shannon, towards Athlone, which is in the centre of Ireland. The
Irish had in their possession all Connaught onwards to Sligo, on the
north-west, together with the counties of Clare, Limerick, Kerry, and
part of the county Cork, in the south. They were protected along
their front by the Shannon, and in their rear by the Atlantic Ocean.

Ginckle, at the head of seventeen thousand men, with twenty pieces
of cannon, moved from Dublin towards Athlone. At Ballimore, within
ten miles of Athlone, he encountered the first resistance, where a garri-
son defended by one thousand men, under Uliake Burke, bravely fought,
until their powder was exhausted, when they surrendered. Ginckle
sent seven hundred of the Irish soldiers, found here, to starve on the
Island of Lambay, near Dublin, from which none of them ever returned.
Before Ginckle captured this garrison, he encountered, in his way to it,
an old castle, guarded by a sergeant and fifteen men. When called
upon to surrender by the general, at the head of seventeen thousand men,
this undaunted fellow, with that reckless courage for which the Irish are
remarkable, ^rerf upon the enemy, and made a desperate resistance, until
he was dislodged by superior numbers ; when the English general, in-
stead of applauding him for his bravery, hanged him for his rashness.
The delays offered to Ginckle by the resistance at Ballimore enabled
the Irish, encamped near Athlone, to get into a state of defence.

SIEGE OF ATHLONE. 769

Ginckle moved on Athlone at four o'clock in the morning of the 18th
June,. 1691, with twenty-five thousand men, and a considerable park of
artillery. General Fitzgerald, who commanded the outposts of the Irish,
sent out two or three hundred men to harass and delay the approaching
enemy ; which service they performed so skilfully, that Ginckle's ad-
vance-guard did not get to the walls of Athlone for five hours after he
set out, though the distance from his bivouac was only five miles.

St. Ruth, who lay a few miles from Athlone, neglected to send for-
ward a sufficient force to defend the garrison. The outer fortifications,
on the Leinster side of the river, were now attacked by Ginckle's main
army ; thirteen pieces of cannon played upon the walls for forty-eight
hours. The English were refreshed by relays from their numerous
army, while the Irish, consisting of only a little band, between three and
four hundred, defended the outward garrison with great bravery, working
all the time, night as well as day, every moment expecting reenforce-
ments from Field-Marshal St. Ruth.

At five o'clock, on the second day, the English cannon made a
breach in the walls, and four thousand men rushed to the assault. The
gallant band within the fortification fought till half their number were
killed, and then, with consummate address, a party of them went to work
to destroy the stone arches of the bridge which led across the river to
the Irish side; while the remaining handful withstood the murderous
bayoneting of the four thousand invaders, until the two stone arches
of the bridge were demolished, and then only the remnant retreated
within the Irish walls.

Never, surely, was there performed, by a besieged few, a more glori-
ous defence than this !

In three or four days, Ginckle had his preparations made for cannon-
ading the Irish town. He was soon able to point at least twenty cannon
and mortal's against the walls. These walls had been, the previous
year, especially the castle, lined by clay walls, eighteen feet thick.
The English batteries had been playing away, for five days, on the walls
and castle, without doing any great damage. On the 27th June, the
eighth battery, of five guns, was planted in a meadow below the town,
to rake the flanks of the Irish garrison. Ginckle had fired away nearly
all his cannon-shot. A hundred cart-loads of cannon balls arrived from
Dublin on the 26th. The English guns now blazed away night and
day ; not a cat could safely expose its head on the Irish ramparts : the
Insh army worked like horses, in filling up the breaches with clay and
stone, and ventured, with the rashness of desperate men, to the eye of
97

770 BRAVE DEFENCE. HEROIC EXPLOIT.

danger. No sooner was a breach made in any part of the walls, than
hundreds of stout hearts and willing hands flew to repair it, though every
moment some one of them was shot off by a cannon ball. Sometimes
they drove up oxen into the breaches, which were siiot by the enemy's
balls, and falling into them, the Irish adroitly covered over the carcases
with clay and stones, which made excellent ramparts. The English
were amazed at the bravery and tact of their adversaries, and the French
officers acknowledged they never saw more resolution and firmness in
any men or in any nation.

The great struggle of Ginckle was to get the bridge ; but this was
contested by the Irish inch by inch. At length their wooden fascines
having been set on fire by the English grenades, the party in defence of
the bridge had to retire within the fortress. Ginckle now threw beams
over both of the broken arches, and was preparing to put planks across
them, intending to pass directly over, boasting to his officers that he
would spend Sunday (the next day) in the Irish fortress.

At this moment, a brave dragoon sergeant, named Custume, offered
with his own guard to stop the enemy. The offer of the sergeant and
his ten daring companions was accepted ; and in the face of the English
firing, they began, with courage and strength, to pull away the English
beams and planks, and fling them into' the water. A tremendous fire of
great and small arms from the whole English line was directed upon those
gallant fellows. They were all slain before they could complete their
desperate task. Undeterred by their fate, eleven more then sprang forth
to continue what remained to be done. Another general discharge of can-
non was now directed on the spot ; the smoke cleared away ; nine of the
eleven had fallen ; but the beams were all thrown into the river. The
bridge was rendered impassable, and two of the gallant fellows returned
in triumph within their walls.

May not Irishmen be forgiven for pausing on this heroic deed, and
expressing their admiration of these unparalleled defenders of their
country's liberty ?

Ginckle, foiled a second time in his efforts to cross the bridge, now
directed his artillery with terrific fury on the town. The Irish guns
were disabled. Thirteen squadrons of horses and carriages were sent to
Dublin for more ammunition. All that had been brought down previ-
ously was nearly used. The garrison had stood an incessant fire, for
nine days and nights, from the " whole artillery " of Ginckle.

The English general now determined to ford the river, which, in the
memory of man, was never known to be so low. This enterprise having

THE ENGLISH FOILED. ST. RUTh's JOT. 771

been communicated to St. Ruth by his spies from the English camp, he
instantly made preparations to drive the enemy back into the water,
should he be daring enough to cross. The next morning, a bridge of
boats was got ready by the English. The broken bridge was approached
under cover of moving galleries and breastworks. The Irish, on the oppo-
site side, were not idle. A grenade, flung by an Irish soldier into the
English works on the bridge, set them on fire, and their men had to fall
back. This disaster retarded the plan of Ginckle ; and observing how
well prepared St. Ruth was to receive them, they .thought it prudent to
give up the attack, after expending already in the siege fifty tons of pow-
der, six hundred bombs, twelve thousand cannon balls, and several tons
of stone, shot from the cannon !

Ginckle's officers knew not what to think, seeing themselves a third
time defeated in so great a project. The Irish were filled with joy at
what they thought was an abandonment of all further design upon the
town. St, Ruth, when he saw the English retire, marched his own
army back to his camp, two miles from Athlone, where, to commemorate
the enemy's defeat, he gave an entertainment to the ladies and gendemen
of the neighborhood — a fatal trick of the French, by which Ireland was
twice lost ; first by this very carousing of St. Ruth after the victory,
and again by the French officers who landed from Tone's expedition,
in Killala, in 1798, under Humbert, who, having, with the United
Irish, beaten twenty thousand British troops, in three field battles, and
driven them from Casde-bar into the heart of Ireland, instead of pursuing
the victory, gave a series of balls and entertainments to the gentlefolks
of Castle-bar, and remained ten or twelve days loitering in pleasure,
until the enemy, recovering his strength, returned and defeated them.
Men who struggle for liberty should never taste of pleasure till it is
won,- and secured beyond the possibility of danger.

And here I must remark how frequent and unfortunate it is that the
liberties of mankind are jeopardized, and even lost, by the paltry jeal-
ousies of chiefs. The Duke of Tyrconnel, who had been twice in
France, the successful ambassador of the Irish ; who had commanded
in many well-contested actions, and had been always lucky and victori-
ous, was doomed to become a victim to a cabal raised in the Irish army,
and countenanced by St. Ruth ; and he was finally so disgusted, that
he quitted the ranks of his countrymen, whose ingratitude, more pow-
erful than the steel of the enemy, had entered his great soul.

The English government at Dublin were at this time in the deepest
gloom. The noble defence of the Irish astonished and confounded them.

772 FOURTH ATTACK ON ATHLONE.

In anticipation of their defeat in the west, they began to barricade the
city of Dublin, to secure a retreat; and Ginckle had actually withdrawn
some of his cannon from the walls, with the intention, it is said, of
retiring. Ginckle, mortified beyond measure at his failure, after all his
boastful promises, now held a council of war, at which it was determined,,
on the afternoon of the 3d, to ford the river at six o'clock, on the ensuing
morning, and fight a way to the Irish ramparts, which were now so much
damaged as to be accessible by assault.

The attack was commenced at six o'clock in the morning of the 1st
of July, 1691, by two thousand grenadiers, commanded by General
Mackay, led on by Captain Sandys, and —

" Under cover of the British cannon,
Their grenadiers in armor crossed the Shannon;
Led by brave Captain Sandys, who, with fame,
Plunged to his middle in the rapid stream.
He led them through, and, with undaunted ire,
They gained the bank in spite of all our fire."

St. Ruth, at this time, lay with his main army two miles to the rear
of the town. He did not dream that the English would have made this
fourth, or " forlorn hope " attack, until roused from his bed the n)orning
after the ball, by the roar of the enemy's cannon. The town was un-
protected against such an attack, it having not more than twelve or
thirteen hundred men for its defence ; and St. Ruth, by the most un-
lucky obstinacy, and unaccountable pride, refused to send aid in

THE MORNING, WHEN WARNED OF THE PREPARATIONS OF THE ENEMY

by the commanding officer of the town, who sent out to the general for
a reenforcement, but was instantly answered, '• if lie was afraid, another
general officer would be sent there."

Meanwhile the English gain the Irish side of the river. The example
of the advance companies animated those behind, and soon several
thousand of the English were seen rushing headlong into the stream,
while their artillery, from their high batteries, with well-pointed aim, cut
down the Irish as fast as they appeared on their ramparts. At another
part of the river the English threw over a bridge of boats, over which a
column of two thousand men soon passed. Enough is stated. The
town was encompassed with English soldiers on every side. The Irish
fought, and fell in vain, against so overpowering a force. The pride
of their French chief would not allow him to send them that timely suc-
cor, which, had they obtained when first demanded in the morning.

ST. RUTH REFUSES AID. SARSFIELD INDIGNANT. 773

would have enabled them to destroy a third part of Ginckle's army, and
mayhap decide the campaign.

Fate, however, ruled it so. The perverse Frenchman refused a second
application from the town, made when Mackay's troops plunged into the
water. He is described as having been then quite at his ease, sitting
in his tent, signing articles against the patriotic Duke of Tyrconnnel,
and about to set out on a shooting excursion : " It is impossible," he
exclaimed, on hearing the news, "that the English should attempt
to take a town, and I so near, with an army to succor it!" To this
the brave Sarsfield, who was present, replied, that he knew the en-
terprise was not too difficult for English courage to attempt. He urged
the immediate despatch of succor to the town ; but, St. Ruth continuing
to make a jest of the news, a quarrel between those two chief com-
manders was the unfortunate result.

St. Ruth was convinced, when too late, by the thunder of the British
cannon, that the action had commenced, and then sent on two brigades
of infantry, which were useful only in covering the retreat of the remnant
of the Irish garrison, who were driven from the town, and were found
contending the ground, inch by inch, with their pursuers. The English,
seeing the reenforcements arrive, retired behind those walls from whicb
they had dislodged the Irish ; and the latter, dispirited by the miscon-
duct of their chief, and the loss of five hundred of their body, who were
slain that morning, retired to the main body at the camp.

"Thus," says O'Callaghan, from whose very minute history of King
William's invasion I have partly compressed the foregoing outline, " not
through native, but foreign misconduct, not through the fault of the
Irish, but of their general, Athlone was at length taken, after a resist-
ance that does honor even to Irish valor." The loss of the Irish, in
defending this place during twelve days, was about thirteen hundred
men, with all their cannon, &c.

St. Ruth, though an able general, had, by his arrogance towards the
Irish commanders, and his loss of Athlone, so disgusted and dispirited
his army, that upwards of five thousand of them abandoned his camp.
Findino- his fame and cause endangered, he suddenly altered his bearing
towards his companions, sought a reconciliation with Sarsfield,and busied
himself up and down to conciliate and encourage every body. He re-
tired to the hill of Kilcommoden, where he posted his entire army most
advantageously. A bog or morass secured his front. (This morass is
now a rich meadow.) The only approach to his ground lay through two
narrow passes, about two miles apart ; the one called the pass ofAu-

774 RETREAT ON AUGHRIM. PREPARATION FOR BATTLE.

ghrim, and the other the pass of Urrachree. That part of his ground
faced by the morass was most favorably shielded by several white-thorn
hedges and ditches, in which his infantry were posted, flanked by cav-
alry and a few cannon. He had now but nine pieces of cannon
remaining. His reserve was strongly intrenched on the hill, from which
he could observe the entire movements of the enemy ; and behind him
all approach was cut off by rivers, broken bridges, woods, and strong
detachments of troops.

St. Ruth was unquestionably a man of first-rate military talent, and
seemed now determined to make up for past faults and follies. Though
he had not yet become reconciled to Sarsfield, still the army, seeing him
do his part so well, determined to die or conquer. The English, after
some ten days spent in fortifying Athlone, posting troops at several points
on the English side of the Shannon, receiving supplies of men and am-
munition from England, &ic., now approached Aughrim, which lies about
three miles south-west of Balinasloe.

St. Ruth, on the Irish side, flew through his ranks, and addressed the
men and officers in the most enthusiastic language. ' The clergy also
exhorted them, and prepared the whole army for death, by hearing con-
fessions and administering to them the last sacrament. The entire of
Saturday and Sunday was spent in those solemn devotions : every man
was fortified, by all his hopes of earthly happiness and eternal bliss, to do
his duty, in the coming batde, to his country, liberty, and his proscribed
religion. St. Ruth had now, according to King James's Memoir, but
fiifteen thousand men and nine pieces of cannon ; but every man was not
only a soldier, but a hero. His French auxiliaries were reduced to some
tea or eleven hundred.

Ginckle approached with fifty regiments, full five-and-tvventy thousand
men, the flower of Europe, composed of Daries, Dutch, Germans, and
English, besides an unlimited park of artillery. He saw from the oppo-
site hill the advantageous position of the Irish, and calculated on a hard
battle. The morass appeared to be impassable, and the only two passes,
of Urrachree and the Castle of Aughrim, were strongly guarded. The
first move made by the English was on the pass of Urrachree, on
Monday, the 12th of July, 1691. The morning was foggy, and
little was done till about twelve or one o'clock. A skirmishing party
were sent over by Ginckle, consisting of two to three hundred men,
who were decoyed by a feint battle and retreat of the Irish into their am-
buscades, and were nearly destroyed. A few of them, retreating quickly,
were supported by a new detachment of nine hundred from Ginckle's

ACTION BEGUN. 775

main. The Irish were, in turn, reenforced, and charged the enemy so
vigorously that he had to retire quickly. Upon this Ginckle ordered a
further supply of cavalry, four hundred and eighty strong. Soon ad-
ditional forces from both sides came on the ground to succor their
respective sides, and a sort of general engagement was now hotly carried
on. At length, about three o'clock, a fresh body of Irish horse, by an
impetuous charge, drove back the English, with great slaughter, to -their
own lines.

This first skirmish altered the plans of the English. A council of their
officers was held, at which it was debated whether the battle should be
continued that night. Mackay, the Scotch general, who had so bravely
crossed the Shannon at Athlone, urged that the battle should be con-
tinued that night, and, by bearing on Urrachree with large numbers,
compel St. Ruth to weaken the Aughrim pass in drawing off his men to
defend the former, when as the English reserve were to pour unexpected-
ly upon the pass of Aughrim, the morass was also to be sounded, and,
if found passable, a division of infantry was to force the Irish ground in
front.

The attack was thus begun by the English, in overwhelming num-
bers, and with all the impetuosity of which the human heart is capable.
The Irish received them bravely. We had better let the English Parson
Story, v/ho was amongst the English troops at that moment, tell their
tale. " Here we fired .one upon another for a considerable time, and the
Irish behaved themselves like men of another nation, defending their
ditches stoutly ; for they would maintain one side till our men put their
pieces over at the other, and then, having lines of communication from
one ditch to another, they would presently post themselves again, and
flank us."

St. Ruth despatched part of his left centre to support his men in this
hot battle. He comprehended the plan of the enemy, which was, to
weaken him at the Aughrim pass, and felt well persuaded he should
disconcert and overthrow them ; for he was truly delighted at the man-
ner m which the Irish fought that day, their guns being muzzle to
muzzle with the invaders.

Two thousand of the English had now crossed the bog, plunging, at
every step, to their middle in mud, and appeared at the foot of the hill
on which St. Ruth's reserve was posted. The Irish received them with
a murderous fire from their hedges, whence they retreated from hedge
to hedge, half a mile up the hill, destroying part of the enemy at every
discharge, and decoying them nearer and nearer to St. Ruth's main

776 BRAVERY AND SUCCESS OF THE IRISH.

centre. Too far advanced to recede, and seeing the Irish now prepared
to return on them in an overvvhehning avalanche, the English commander
of this attack tried to rally his men by exclaiming, " There is no way to
come off but to be brave ! " But to no purpose : the remnant of this
daring band were driven back into the bog.

Mackay, who was now crossing another part of the bog with four or five
thousand men, directed his advance, under Prince Hesse, not to engage
the Irish until he and his entire body got over ; but St. Ruth bore down
upon the young prince, who was too proud to be still when attacked,
and, forgetting the orders of his wary Scotch general, attacked St. Ruth's
reserve, who enticed him on as the others had been, and returned
with a murderous charge, driving the remnant of his brigade back upon
Mackay's reserve, who were yet wading through the bog. The Eng-
lish were thus repulsed in every quarter, and the fortune of the day
seemed to be with the Irish : yet the English fought with uncommon
bravery. " Three times did they roll the tide of battle against the Irish
across the bog, though three times they were driven back to the mouths
of their cannon, by the victorious Irish," says their own writer.

Ireland had at Aughrim, like France at Waterloo, her Grouchy. A
recreant commander, named O^Donnell, who was marching from Con-
naught with eight thousand men, destined to act on Ginckle's rear, was
expected up by the Irish all that day. The troops were in motion, and
heard the roar of the artillery ; but the wretch detained them, traitor-
ously, as afterwards appeared by his junction with William's army, at
the siege of Sligo. The traitor, however, met his fate in William's
service in Flanders.

Ginckle now commanded his entire army to a general engagement at
all those passes from which they had been already driven, he himself
leading and fighting like a common soldier. He had some French Prot-
estants in his army who also fought desperately ; but the repulse from
the Irish was such, as their account of the battle evidences, that " they
resolved, having no other way, to sell their lives as dearly to the Irish
as they could." Instead of being able to dislodge the Irish, they were
repulsed on every side. " The Irish," according to the French accounts,
" made a great massacre of the enemy's broken foot." Even the Lon-
don Gazette of the day says, "The Irish were never known to fight
with more resolution, especially their foot."

St. Ruth, in a transport of joy, seeing how the Irish infantry fought,
flung his hat up into the air, and, turning to those around him, exclaimed,
^^ I will now beat their army back to the gates of Dublin ! '' Ginckle

DISASTROUS MISTAKE.

ST. RUTH KILLED. 777

and Mackay, the best English generals, were defeated in the pass of
Urrachree, and in the two passes across the bog, and the fortune of the
day seemed setting on the Irish side, when a very trivial circumstance
turned the fate of war. The pass at Aughrim, which had been up to
this but little assailed, and which was deemed, by both English and
Irish, the strongest, for it was so narrow that only two men could ride
abreast, and was covered by an impregnable old castle, which belonged
to the chieftain O'Kelly, — was guarded by one thousand nine hundred
men, under Colonel Walter Burke. As the English advanced on this
point, the Irish prepared to fire. After firing the first few rounds, and
when a supply of ammunition was required, it was found that casks filled
with cannon-shot, instead of bullets, were sent to the castle. Here was,
indeed, an untoward mistake. The Irish were panic-stricken ; but, re-
solved not to give up cheaply, they fired their ramrods, pieces of copper
and silver coins, and even the buttons of their clothes, at the enemy,
which, however, only wounded them.

Where so few of the English fell, for want of bullets in the guns of
their adversaries, it is not to be wondered at that they forced the pass of
Aughrim, and thus secured the very best ground of the field for at-
tacking the Irish. Although the English were twice driven back,
yet, supported by several regiments, they forced back the Irish here.
St. Ruth, observing the progress of the enemy, and not knowing, the cause,
was dashing down from his position on the hill with a splendid body of
cavalry, leaving Sarsfield behind with another fine body, but with strict
command not to stir till he received orders. St. Ruth, placing him-
self at the-headof his choice body of cavalry, was so completely sure of
success, that he said, '•' Now we will beat them to some purpose ; " and
giving the word to charge, his troops dash down upon the enemy ; but
his hour had come. A well-aimed cannon ball, from the English side,
took off his head ; and in that head were contained alone all the plans
of the battle. The brilliant dress of the French marshal identified him
to the enemy — a hint which should induce all skilful commanders to
avoid making their persons conspicuous by tawdry trappings.

The Irish were panic-stricken. Sarsfield, on whom the command de-
volved, was yet on the hill, and, owing to the coldness that prevailed
between himself and St. Ruth, knew nothing of his plans, or even of
his death, until the English had gained the hill. Nearly at the same
moment, the Rev. Mr. Stafford, a zealous priest, who animated the
troops during the day, met his death ; and a " great delay " in action
having taken place on the part of the Irish by these two unfortunate
98

778 CHANGE IN THE FORTUNE OF THE DAT.

circumstances, — and where, as in battle, seconds decide the fate of em-
pires, — nearly half an hour elapsed before any regular action was adopted
on their side, the enemy gaining ground all the time. Yet, in the
language o{ Story, the Irish contested the ground inch by inch, though
irregularly and without a commander. " There was nothing," says
he, " but a continued fire all along the line, the Irish endeavoring to
defend their ditches, and our men as forward to beat them from thence."

The English now pushed up the hill in three columns, the Irish
fighting their way, and Sarsfield still ignorant of St. Ruth's death, and
afraid to stir lest he should give cause of umbrage ; yet, had he pushed
down the hill earlier with his fine body of reserve, there is no doubt,
says Captain Parker of Ginckle's army, but he would have turned the
tide of battle. And now, seeing that all was confusion and dismay, he
was obliged to join the retreating crowd of his countrymen, who fled
from a foe double their number, after fighting the hardest-fought field
that probably the history of Europe records.

A good retreat was now Sarsfield's object. He saw himself chief
in command of the remnant of his brave countrymen, and he determined
to proceed at once to Limerick, the theatre of his former glory, where
he foiled King William, and there make a last brave stand for

" His king, his country, and his lost estate."

Two battles were fought by the encircled Irish, at two different points
of the field, at which they behaved gallantly for half an hour, cutting
their way through hostile ranks, rather preferring to die than submit as
prisoners to the faithless invaders ; in which they were quite right, for
nearly two thousand Irish, captured during the day, including those
taken in the Castle of Aughrim, were inhumanly butchered on the field
after the battle ! The loss of the Irish was, according to King James,
about four thousand men : (the English make the loss more.) In this
number, there were killed of chief officers six hundred, and taken
prisoners one hundred and eleven, — evidence enough that the Irish
fought well " at home " that day.

Captain Parker, on Ginckle's side, estimates the English loss at three
thousand men, besides seventy-three general officers killed, and one
hundred and eleven wounded. The battle began at one o'clock, and
lasted until sundown.

Harris, who wrote the Life of King William, has the following para-
graph on this battle: —

SARSFIELD NOW CHIEF IN COMMAND. 779

" It must in justice be confessed that the Irish fought this sharp battle with
great resokition ; wliich demonstrates that the many defeats before tliis time sus-
tained by tiiem cannot be imputed to a national cowardice, with which some, with-
out reason, impeached them, but to a defect in military discipline, or to the want
of skill and experience in their commanders. JJnd now, had not St. Ruth been
taken off, it would have been hard to say what the consequences of this day would have
been.^^

" This admission from a Williamite," says O'Callaghan, " is every
thing."

Such was the field of Aughrim, bravely fought, and lost without dis-
honor ; gained by the enemy more through one of the accidents of
war, — the sending casks of cannon-shot to Aughrim Castle, instead of
bullets, — than to his bravery or skill. Let us, who live, perhaps, to
fight the battle over again, be more circumspect in packing our shot;
and let us, in the words partly of Moore, —

"Forget not the fields where tliey perished,
The truest, the last of tlie brave ;
The bright hopes, when living, they cherished,
Shall live with its on to the grave."

The Irish now rallied upon the strong forts yet in their possession.
The principal of these were Limerick, Galway, and Sligo ; which
covered a considerable belt of the western part of Ireland. Messengers
were despatched to France with a report of the war, and a pressing
request for further assistance in arms and ammunition, which was now
the principal want of the Irish. Limerick was strongly fortified, and the
garrison consisted of four to five thousand stout courageous men, some
of whom had fought at Aughrim, and others that had so bravely fought
in the former siege. Galway was garrisoned by about the same number,
and Sligo by as many ; while Sarsfield, at the head of a splendid body
of four thousand cavalry well mounted, scoured the open country be-
tween the enemy's lines and the various garrisons in possession of the
Irish. This brave officer did the English considerable damage, sur-
prising and cutting off whole detSchments at a time, which obliged
them to keep near to their strongest fortifications.

Ginckle now laid siege to Limerick, whilst another division was sent
to Sligo, to force that city to surrender, which w^as defended by Sir Teague
O'Regan. The English army lay before Limerick from the middle
of July to late in September, pouring a continued volley of cannon
balls and bombs on the town. This continued night and day, for sixty
or seventy days, without any other intermissions than those created by
the occasional heroic sallies of the garrison on their assailants. Upon

780 SECOND SIEGE OF LIMERICK.

these occasions hundreds upon hundreds of both sides were slain, with-
out disturbing the general order of the siege. Upon one occasion, a
party of one thousand five hundred of the Irish who sallied out were
so closely pursued to their gates, that, whether from accident or design,
five hundred of their number were shut out by Colonel Luttrel ; and
every one of the poor fellows was butchered at the very gates of the
garrison.

The Irish garrison was at length gradually encircled by the British,
and all intercourse with their friends in the country was cut off: their
provisions were greatly reduced, and Sarsfield tried to get some horses
into the town for food, but found it impossible ; and what was still much
worse, their ammunition was gradually decreasing, without any hopes
or means of being replenished. Still no one thought of surrendering an
inch but with life.

On the other side, the affairs of King William in the Low Countries,
where his armies had been considerably reduced, fighting against the
combined forces of Spain and France, caused him to send word to
Ginckle to conclude the war with the Irish upon any terms, provided
they submitted to own him as king. This soon got wind, and it en-
couraged the Irish considerably. In the mean time, private messen-
gers arrived from France to Sarsfield, intimating that King James's
hopes of reestablishing his power in Ireland were declining ; where-
upon Sarsfield, Sir Toby Butler, and others of the Irish leaders, thought
it best to come to terms of peace with the English general, hearing that
he had power and directions to grant them every advantage which they
could reasonably hope for, if they had conquered for King James.

To be brief, after several negotiations between the parties on both
sides, a cessation of hostilities took place, and a peace was agreed to,
highly satisfactory and honorable to the Irish. The civil articles, — which,
with the military articles, are forty-two in number, — guarantied to the
Irish Catholics a free exercise of rel^ion ; the privilege of sitting in
parliamenty as enjoyed in the reign of Charles the Second ; a freedom
of trdde, and the benefit of domestic legislation by the national par-
liament in Dublin ; the guaranty of their estates to all those Catholics
who liad taken up arms for King James the Second ; a general amnesty
and forgiveness of all offences on either side. The m,ilitary articles
guarantied to the Irish troops, on their submission, all the honors of war,
as may be seen by the twenty-fifth article subjoined : —

" XXV. That it shall be lawful for the said garrison to march out all at once,
or at different times, as they can be embarked, with arms, baggage, drums beating,

THE TREATY OF LIMERICK. 781

match lighted at hoth ends, hullet in mouth, colors flying, six brass guns, (such as
the besieged will chose,) two mortar-pieces, and half the ammunition that is now
in the magazines of the said place ; and, for this purpose, an inventory of all the
ammunition in the garrison shall be made in the presence of any person that the
general shall appoint, tlie next day after these present articles shall be signed."

Transports were to be provided to send to France such of those
soldiers as wished to embark for that country. These articles, which
run to great length, may be seen in Leland, Plowden, or M'Geoghegan's
Histories of Ireland.

The following is the preamble to these articles, and the names of the
high contracting parties on both sides : —

"Articles agreed upon the Third Day of October, One Thousand Six Hundred

and JVi7iety-One,

" Between the Right Honorable Sir Charles Porter, Knight, and Thomas Con-
ningsby, Esq., lords justices of Ireland, and his excellency the Baron de Ginckle,
lieutenant-general and commander-in-chief of tlie English anuy, on tlie one
part;

" And the Right Honorable Patrick, Earl of Lucan, [Sarsfield,] Piercy Viscount
Galmoy, Colonel Nicholas Purcel, Colonel Nicholas Cusack, Sir Toby Butler,
Colonel Garret Dillon, and Colonel John Brown, on the other part:

" In the behalf of the Irish inliabitantd in the city and county of Limerickj
tlie counties, of Clare, Kerry, Cork, Sligo, and Mayo, and those under their protec-
tion, [which words in Italic were omitted in the clean copy, though inserted in the
rough one, but afterwards confirmed by King William.]

" In consideration of the surrender of the city of Limerick, and other agree-
ments made between the said Lieutenant-General Ginckle, tlie governor of the
city of Limerick, and the generals of the Irish army, bearing date with these
presents, for the surrender of the said city, and submission of the said army : it is
agreed," &c. &c.

These binding articles between the English and Irish nation were
solemnly signed the 3d day of October, 1691, in presence of both
garrisons, on a large stone that stood in the midway ground between
the two armies. The stone on which this charter of civil and re-
ligious liberty was signed is yet preserved conspicuously, and held in
great veneration by the people of Limerick, and is appropriately called
the Treaty Stone.

In two days after this treaty was signed, a French fleet arrived in the
mouth of the Shannon, bringing an army of reenforcement to Sarsfield.
This created considerable emotion on both sides ; some of Sarsfield's
captains urged him to avail himself of this aid, and to return to the
combat and extinguish the English army. He exclaimed, " No ! I
have set my name to the contract, and I will never disgrace the name
of a soldier, or an Irishman, by erasing it." Alas for Sarsfield's con-

782 IRISH COMMANDERS IN THIS WAR. o'nEILL.

fidence in British honor ! We shall by and by see that treaty deliber-
ately broken in every particular by Britain.

And now, after a war of two hundred and fifty years between the
Irish and English, the principle for which the Irish first took the field
was established, namely, religious liberty. It had been wrung from
Elizabeth, after a fifteen years' war; subverted again by James, the First,
Cromwell, and the parliamentarians ; partly restored by Charles the
Second ; fully established by James the Second ; subverted by King
William ; and now, after many a hard-fought field, again wrung from a
reluctant enemy by the indomitable valor of the Irish heart.

This is the natural place from whence to glance back at a few of
those bright names who, during the wars from Elizabeth to William,
took a leading part in our eventful history — names that fling a radiance
over the past, and a gleam of bright light tlirough the future, which
cannot but guide the votaries of Irish liberty for ages to come.

About nineteen thousand men and officers, most of whom fought in
those latter battles, availed themselves of a free conveyance to France,
and were afterwards employed by the French king, Louis the Four-
teenth. They were offered their choice, whether to serve in the army of
William or Louis : a day was appointed for testing this. The Irish com-
mander? having resolved to go to France, most of the soldiers decided
on following them. About three thousand went into the English service.
The Irish who now embarked for France formed the celebrated " Irish
Brigade," which so valorously distinguished themselves under the French
colors at various battles, to whose brilliant deeds upon the continent I
shall by and by allude.

Amongst the names which shine out most frequently in Irish story are
the O'Neills. Every reign and every campaign had its "O'Neill"
among the rebels to English domination ; and I do not remember to
have read of a traitor or runaway of that name but one in our whole
history. In short, to do justice to this great family would be to write
over again the history of Ireland. Hugh O'Neill, in the reign of
Elizabeth, and Owen Roe O'Neill, in the beginning of Cromwell's
invasions, were men whom, as military commanders and patriots, any
nation might well be proud of. In the parliament of Ireland, called by
King James the Second, there were seven O'Neills representatives of
northern counties and boroughs. Those O'Neills, indeed, were, in
O'Callaghan's words, " glorious fellows," worthy descendants of the
race that held the Irish sceptre for six hundred and ninety-nine years.

Justin M'Carthy, Lord Mountcashell, deserves special notice. He

m'cARTHT. o'kELLYS. FITZGERALD. 783

had maintained the brunt of James's battles before his arrival with
French aid, and had been eminently successful in the north of Ireland,
where he fought against those foolish Protestants who espoused King
William's cause from a mere fanatical hatred of Popery. He was,
however, captured by his opponents at Newtown Butler, and kept im
prisoned several months, but escaped to France. The M'Carthys were
a very ancient stock of the southern race of Milesian princes, and, for
nine hundred years previous to the invasion of Henry the Second, were
the hereditary princes of Desmond, or South Munster, who enjoyed the
right with the O'Briens, who were princes of North Munster, of nomi-
nating alternately a king of the province. The counties of Cork and
Kerry were their principal territories ; and the families of O'Callaghan,
O'Donovari, O'Connell, O'Donoghue More, and O'Donoghue of the
Glen, O'Mahony, O'Keefe", O'Sullivan More, and O'Sullivan Beare,
besides several other septs, were their hereditary vassals, and paid them
tribute. The M'Carthys, as vvell as the men bearing the above honor-
able names, took their distinguished posts on the side of King James.
They fought, were killed, or were made prisoners, according to the
indiscriminate laws of war. A most interesting note on the distinguished
house of the M'Carthys will be found in the Green Book, p. 235.
Their immense estates, worth sixty thousand pounds a year, were un-
justly seized by the Williamites, clearly contrary to the treaty of
Limerick. The last of the family, the Comte de M'Carthy Reagh,
left behind him, at Toulouse, a splendid library, second only to -that of
the king of France. In this magnificent collection there were eight
hundred books in manuscript, of the utmost value : they were sold, and
were scattered amongst the libraries of Europe.

The family of O'Kellys, of Hy-Maney, a county comprehending the
northern parts of the county Galway, and the southern parts of the
county Roscommon, was founded in the fifth century, and distin-
guished themselves in the Danish wars : one of the race commanded
the left wing at the battle of Clontarf. The name gave many com-
manders to King James's army ; and the head of the family lost his
estate at Aughrim by the loss of that battle. Many officers of this
name rose, by their valor, to distinction in the French and Austrian
services during the last century. — See Green Book, for further par-
ticulars, p. 255.

Colonel Fitzgerald fought nobly in the defence of Athlone, when
attacked by Ginckle before the arrival of assistance from St. Ruth. The
name of Fitzgerald, though belonging to the Norman invaders, has re-

784 " o'reilly.

deemed the sin of its first conductors into Ireland, by giving many a
martyr to the cause of Ireland ; the last being the adored Lord Ed-
ward Fitzgerald, — of whom more hereafter.

Colonel Edmund Bui O'Reilly, who so ably fought under the Duke
of Berwick in the battle of Cavan, which took place before the arrival
of Schomberg, was the head of the ancient and powerful house of
O'Reilly, descended, like their neighbors, (the O'Rourkes,) from Here-
mon, son of Milesius. The O'Reillys were princes of East Brefny, or
the modern county of Cavan, as the O'Rourkes were of West Brefny,
or the modern county of Leitrim. The O'Reillys were the uncon-
querable frontier power which, for so many centuries after the English
invasion, kept the English Pale in check, and forbade its advance.
'They distinguished themselves nobly in the fifteen years' war against
Elizabeth. On the fall, by treachery, of the great O'Neills, their patri-
mony was nearly all seized about the same time, — 1607. One of the
sept commanded bravely in the confederated Catholic army, who fought
for their religious freedom in the times of Charles the First and Crom-
well. There were several of the name killed, as commanders in King
James the Second's army, at the Boyne, Athlone, and Aughrim ; one of
the name was chaplain to King James himself, and another was master
in chancery under the same monarch. There were three of the name
members of King James's parliament. Many flourishing offshoots of
the family have survived in the counties of Cavan and Meath, all of
whom, as well as the O'Kellys, have given many shining lights to the
Catholic church. And the armies of Louis the Fourteenth, the Empress
Maria Theresa, and even of Napoleon, had, amongst their most heroic
corps, some members of this noble and patriotic house.

Andrew, Count O'Reilly, general of cavalry in the Austrian army,
may be considered as the last warrior of that distinguished class of
Irish officers, the- contemporaries or eleves of the Lacys, Dauns,
Loudons, Bradys, and Browns, so renowned in the reigns of Maria
Theresa and Joseph the Second. He was the second son of James
O'Reilly, of Westmeath, Ireland. By the brilliant charges of his
dragoons, he saved the remnants of the Austrian army at Austerlltz,
and was the only commander, according to Napoleon, on the Austrian
side, who saved his cannon. The men who fought under him were " '98
men," and his lieutenant was Aylmer, of Painstown, in the county
Kildare. In May, 1808, he was governor of Vienna, and on him de-
volved the task of honorably capitulating to Napoleon, the victor of
the age. Count O'Reilly died at the age of ninety-two, in Vienna, in

O CALLAGHAN. MAGE

— m'mahon. 785

1832, holding the rank of general of cavalry in the Austrian army, and
chamberlain commander of the imperial order of Maria Theresa. His
sister is Lady Talbot, of Malahide.

In August, 1844, William O'Reilly, the head of the sept in our
times, died at the old castle, county Louth. He was a distinguished
member of the Catholic Association, and served in parliament for Dun-
dalk, after the triumph of the Catholic cause, in 1829. He is suc-
ceeded by Miles O'Reilly, who, it is said, inherits the talent and
patriotism of his family. Mr. O'Reilly's uncle is the present attorney-
general of Jamaica. A member of the family in exile, according to
Mackenzie, has written a history of Rochester.

A pretty good brigade could now be raised in Ireland for the defence
of the country, composed exclusively of the O'Reillys.

The O'Callaghans, or O'Ceallahans, of the Heberian line, had
distinguished themselves in defence of their country, since the, hero of that
name defeated the Danes in many battles, down to the war of William.
Some of this name commanded under Desmond in the wars of Eliza-
beth. The regiment commanded by Maxwell, at Athlone, had a
Major O'Callaghan, who well distinguished himself. It is hardly ne-
cessary to state that the talented military writer of the Green Book
comes from that ancient and noble stock.

The Magennises were a most ancient family, that gave kings to
Ulster for many centuries after the first Milesian settlement. They
were conquered by the O'Neills, when the great palace of Emania was
destroyed, and the royal lineage of their line terminated. They, how-
ever, continued as chieftains to defend their country from invasion ; their
possessions chiefly lay in the county Down, called Dalriada, now
forming part of the baronies of Upper and Lower Iveach, and the
barony of Moy-Inis, now called Lecale. The chief of this noble
house. Lord Iveagh, furnished King James with two regiments of in-
fantry, and one of dragoons, who fought well during the Williamite
war. Three of the name were members of King James's parliament,
returned by popular constituencies in their native districts. Two of the
family fell at Athlone, bravely leading their men to the breach. At the
end of the war. Lord Iveagh entered the Austrian service with five
hundred men, the remnant of his brave legion, who fought in the new
service against the Turks, in Hungary.

The M'Mahons w^ere lords of Monaghan, formerly called Uiiel. It
was an extensive tract, and we find, from Sir John Davis, there were
99

786 o'gaRA. GRACE.

ninety-si'x thousand acres of M'Mahon's land, set apart, in various parts
of his territory, for the support of public hospitality. These lands were
managed by that ancient public officer, the beteagh, whose duty, as I
have already described, was to keep food and beds continually ready
for the traveller and the needy. " They were a race," says the vener-
able Cliarles O'Conor, " which were the subject of much panegyric
in the works of our annalists and Jileas ; they were of the Heremonian
line, and their chiefs, in every age, won the laurels due to the brave, the
patriotic, and the hospitable." The last of this illustrious house was
the Reverend Father M'Mahon, who studied and taught in Spain, having
been driven from his priory in Ireland, by the Orange act of parliament
of 1697. Colonel Art Oge MMahon, one of the house, fell at the
siege of Athlone. This distinguished commander was King James's
lord lieutenant for the county of Monaghan. Two or three more of
the family commanded in the same service ; and three others were
members of King James's parliament. Captain Hugh M'Mahon went
to France, after the surrender of Limerick, and entered the French
king's service. These northern M'Mahons must not be confounded
with the southern M'Mahons of Clare ; the latter were of the Hiberian
line, and were called Dalcassians.

The O'Gara family — of whom Colonel Oliver O'Gara distinguished
himself at Athlone and Aughrim — were the lords of the barony of
Colavin, in the county of Sligo ; which immense tract was forfeited
from them (robbed) by the English, in 1641. This distinguished officer,
after the capitulation of Limerick, retired to France, where he was
appointed lieutenant-colonel of King James's regiment of foot, which
was one thousand four hundred strong.

Notice ought to be taken of the brave old Colonel Richard Grace,
who fell defending Athlone. He was not of the Milesian race, but of
the Norman clan that followed Strongbow into Ireland. Raymond le
Gros was the founder of the family ; and, in the course of ages, that
family became more Irish than the Irish themselves. The southern
family, ennobled as Earls of Desmond, gave evidence of this in the
times of Elizabeth. Colonel Richard Grace, who so bravely fell at the
head of his regiment, was a singularly brave and chivalrous person. He
was beyond eighty years of age, and was in charge of Athlone, when
Douglas attacked it, after the battle of the Boyne. ■ When called upon
to surrender by that officer, he fired a pistol over the head of the
messenger, exclaiming, "Tell your n)asler, these are my terms!" He
ably defended the fortress against the invaders on the first occasion, and

O CONNELL.

•o'higgins. 787

drove off three thousand, after a long and fruitless, siege. The English
commander had previously sent an emissary to him, with an offer of a
considerable bribe and dazzling honors, if he would join King William.
The brave old hero instantly wrote upon a card, (the six of hearts,^
which was accidentally near him, a stern and haughty refusal. This card
goes by the name of " Grace's card," in Ireland, to this day. He had
in his youth fought at the head of five thousand of his own men against
Cromwell, and was never defeated ; but, on capitulation, left the coun-
try with one thousand two hundred men, returned with Charles the
Second, and fought for Ireland, in his old age, against King William,
falling in the trenches of Atlilone, which town he had three times before
successfully defended against English invasion. His estate lay in the
neighborhood of Kilkenny.

The O'CoNNELL sept gave commanders to Ireland ' before now.
Without going into the deeds of that family, until 1 come to treat of its
present chief, I will merely notice that Colonel O'Connell was taken
prisoner at Aughrim, which proves that he was in the thickest of the
battle. The Liberator tells an anecdote of a soldier who fought on that
day, under the command of his gallant relative, which strongly indicates
the resolution that pervaded the entire Irish army at that men)orabIe
battle. On Colonel O'Connell asking this poor fellow, the morning of
the battle, why he appeared unshaved, it being the Sabbath, he replied,
" Arrah, curnil, the man that has the head to-night may shave it."

The O'HiGGiNs's were distinguished in those and the preceding
wars. The family gave three martyrs of distinction to the cause of
Ireland within the seventeenth century, — of whom two, bearing the
name of Peter, suffered death, in Dublin, for their faith. It must be
noted, also, that an excommunicated priest of that name became a
traitor in the Williamite war ; but his baseness has been outbalanced by
the numerous great spirits given by that family to the liberty of Ireland,
and his treachery was punished with death by the guns of his com-
rades, who killed him while fighting in the ranks of their enemies.
About the year 1610, there were two distinguished poets of this name
in Ireland ; one of whom was archbishop of Tuam. In the last cen-
tury. Sir John O'Higgins, first counsellor of state to Philip the Fifth of
Spain, rendered himself remarkable as the discoverer of the works, in
manuscript, of the Irish poet and scholar, SeduUus, [Shiel.] This Sir
John O'Higgins, says O'Callaghan, was the great-grandfather of Don
Bernardo O'Higgins, president of the republic of Chili, so distinguished
in the annals of the South American struggle for independence ; in the
success of which, as in the contest for freedom in the United States,

788 o'hIGGINS. officers KILIiEI) AND WOUNDED.

Irish blood so amply contributed. The original founder of this old Irish
name, which is also written without a final 5, — O^Higgin, — was a
son of Niall the Grand, of the Nine Hostages, who drove the Romans
out of Britain, in the fourth century.

The man who, in our days, bears that name most prominently before
his countrymen, is the illustrious Dr. Higgins, bishop of Ardagh, whose
reply to Sir Robert Peel, in 1843, deserves to be engraved in gold on
columns of marble in the chief cities of Ireland, and to be committed
to the memories of the whole population. " I have sprung," said this
illustrious man, at the monster meeting of Mulhngar, where two hundred
thousand of his countrymen assembled, " I have sprung not only from
the people, but from the very humblest classes of the people. 1 disdain
and contemn all the pride of aristocracy. I am of the people, and I
sympathize in«their privations. We seek for a repeal of the union, to
put an end to those privations. The minister of England refuses this
measure, and threatens us with physical force, — to put us down by the
sword, — should we persist in the demand. I speak now the sentiments
of the entire priesthood and hierarchy of Ireland. They are unanimous
in their resolve to obtain a repeal of that union. We are now all
unanimous on this point, and 1 defy Sir Robert Peel to put down the
repeal agitation in the single diocese of Ardagh ! [Here O'Connell
cheered, which the entire multitude reechoed again and again. ' That's
the best news,' said the Liberator, ' I ever heard.'] They may drive
us from our fields ; they may deprive us of the open light of day to
assemble under; but we will retire to our churches, and there, when we
have addressed our people on the duty they owe to God, we shall then
lecture them on the duty they owe to their country. The myrmidons
of England may follow us into our sanctuaries ; hut we will prepare

OUR PEOPLE FOR THE SCAFFOLD, AND BEQ,UEATH OUR WRONGS TO
POSTERITY 1 "

Let those who have the honor of bearing this name imitate their
illustrious namesake in love of Ireland and exertion for her freedom.

The following is a correct list of the officers who were killed and
wounded at Aughrim : —

" Killed. — The commander-in-chief, Lieutenant-General St. Ruth ; Lord Kil-
mallock, (Sarsfield;) Lord Galway, (Burke ;) Brigadier William Mansfield Barker ;
Brigadier H. M. J. O'Neill ; Brigadier O'Connell ; Colonel Charles Moore ; Colo-
nels David and Ulick Burke ; Colonel Cuconacht or Constantine Maguire ; Colonel
James Talbot; Colonel Arthur; Colonel Mahony ; Colonel Walter Nugent;
Colonel Felix O'Neill ; Lieutenant-Colonel Morgan ; Major Purcell ; Major
O'Donnell; Sir John Everard, &c.

"Taken. — Lord Duleek, (Beliew ;) Lord Slane, (Fleming;) Lord Bophm,

BURKE. o'bRIEN. DILLON. 789

(Burke ;) Lord Kenmare, (Browne ;) Major-General Dorrington ; Major-General
John Hamilton, (who died of his wounds, and was brother to the gallant Lieutenant-
General Richard Hamilton, captured at the Boyne, and to the brave and accom-
plished Colonel Anthony Hamilton, who fought against the Enniskilleners, and
wrote tlie well-known Memoirs of Grammont, &c. ;) Brigadier Tuite ; Colonel
Walter Burke; Colonel Gordon O'Neill; Colonel Butler of Kilkasli; Colonel
O'Connell ; Colonel Edmund Madden ; Lieutenant-Colonel John Chappell ; Lieu-
tenant-Colonel John Butler; Lieutenant-Colonel Baggot; Lieutenant-Colonel John
Border ; Lieutenant-Colonel Macgennis ; Lieutenant-Colonel Rossiter ; Lieutenant-
Colonel Macguire ; Major Patrick Lawless ; Major Kelly ; Major Grace ; Major
William Burke ; Major Edmund Butler; Major Edmund Broghill, (most probably
an English error for tlie Irish name Braughall ;) Major John Hewson, &c."

Colonel Walter Burke, who guarded the Castle of Aughrim, be-
longed to the great Norman-Irish house of Milo de Burgh, who came
into Ireland with Strongbow, 1170. This family settled in Connaught
soon after the first invasion, and assumed the name, language, manners,
dress, and customs, of the native Irish, and were deemed, in succeeding
ages, " more Irish than the Irish themselves." The Burkes have given
heroes to the independence of Ireland in every age, and one of that
family, of the northern line, was the celebrated Edmund Burke, whose
genius and talents were wielded in favor of his fellow-countrymen in the
British senate, and who was the first in Europe to raise his voice in
behalf of the then struggling colonies of America. His eloquence
contributed mainly to evoke that sentiment through Europe which in-
duced Lafayette and Kosciusko to leave their homes for the camp of
Washington, and which induced sixteen thousand Irishmen to fight in
his ranks.

Colonel Charles O'Brien, of" O'Brien's regiment," went to France,
after the surrender of Limerick. The O'Briens, who, like the O'Neills,
have occasionally held the sceptre of Ireland, have their names inter-
woven in every page of Irish history. The above colonel was killed
at the battle of Ramillies, in 1706, when his regiment was given to
Murrough O'Brien, of a branch of the same family ; the latter distin-
guished himself as a skilful officer, at Pallue, in the French king's service.
The present distinguished William Smith O'Brien is a member of
this family, — of whom I shall have something to say under the
" repeal agitation."

Lieutenant-General Dillon also repaired with the others to France,
at the head of his regiment. There were several sons of Lord Dillon
engaged in the Williamite war, who afterwards proved themselves dis-
tinguished officers in the French service. Two were killed at the head
of their regiments, at the battles of Fontenoy and Lawfeld.

790 o'rEGAN. SEVERAL OTHER OFFICERS.

Lover gives the following characteristic sketch of these brave
men : —

'■ In a memorable battle fought in the days of Louis tlie Fourteenth, when tlie
French were scattered in every direction, and the fields covered with the dead and
dying, Louis addressed his general thus : ' Can any thing be done to preserve the
honor of France ? ' His general answered, ' Yes, my liege ; there is a gallant, in-
trepid band, the Irish Brigade, upon which all my hopes rest' ' Dillon,' said Mar-
shal Saxe, ' let the whole Irish Brigade charge ! to you I commit its conduct
Where Dillon's regiment leads, the rest will follow. The cavalry has made no
impression yet ; let the Irish Brigade show an example.' ' It shall be done, Mar-
shal,' said Dillon, turning his liorse. ' Victory ! ' cried Saxe. ' Or death ! ' cried
Dillon, and, plunging his rowels into his horse's side, gallopped along the front of
the lines, where the brigade stood impatient for the order to advance. Dillon gave
the talismanic word, ' Remember Limerick ! ' and, heading his brave regiment,
down swept the brigade, and shortly the hitherto unbroken column of Cumberland
was crushed ; the very earth trembled under that horrible rush of horse. The brave
Dillon fell, but ho lived long enough to know that the glorious charge of the
Irish Brigade had won the day."

JXor should we omit our admiration of the brave Sir Teague
O'Regan, who held Sligo in defiance of the English force sent against
him upon three separate occasions, and only gave up when the treaty
of Limerick was agreed to. He died in Ireland.

The Abbe M'Geoghegan supplies the following sketch of these
heroic men, who so bravely won a charter for their country in the face
of death : —

" The troops which had lately arrived in France, after the treaty of Limerick,
were new-modelled in 1695, and reduced to twelve regiments, the command of
which was given to those who had most influence at the court of St Germain.
These regiments, called " the troops of King James," were, —

" The king's regiment of cavalry : Dominick Sheldon, colonel ; Edmond Pren-
dergast, lieutenant-colonel ; Edmond Butler, major.

" The queen's regiment of cavalry : Lord Galmoy, colonel ; Rene de Carne, (a
Frenchman,) lieutenant-colonel; James Tobin, major.

"The king's regiment of dragoons: Lord Viscount Kilmallock, (Sarsfield,)
colonel ; Turenne O'CarroU, lieutenant-colonel ; De Salles, (a Frenchman,) major.

" The queen's regiment of dragoons : Charles Viscount Clare, colonel ; Alex-
ander Barnwal, lieutenant-colonel ; Charles Maxwell, major.

" The king's infantry regiment of guards : William Dorington, colonel ; Oliver
O'Gara, lieutenant-colonel ; John Rothe, major.

" The queen's regiment of infantry : Simon Luttrell, colonel ; Francis Wachop,
lieutenant-colonel ; James O'Brien, major.

« An infantry regiment of marines : The Lord Grand-prior, colonel ; Nicholas
Fitzgerald, lieutenant-colonel ; Richard Nugent second lieutenant-colonel ; Ed-
mond O'Madden, major.

"The Limerick regiment of infantry : Sir John Fitzgerald, colonel ; Jeremiah
O'Mahony, lieutenant-colonel ; William Thessy, major.

FUTURE DISPOSITION. IRISHMEN IN FOREIGN SERVICE. 791

" The Charlemont regiment of infantry : Gordon O'Neill, colonel ; Hugh
M'Mahon, lieutenant-colonel ; Edmond Murphy, major.

" Dublin regiment of infantry : John Power, colonel ; John Power, lieutenant
colonel ; Theobald Burke, major.

" The Athlone reginient of infantry : Walter Burke, colonel ; Owen M'Carty,
lieutenant-colonel ; Edmond Cantwell, major.

" Clancarty regiment of infantry : Roger M'Elligot, colonel ; Edward Scott,
lieutenant-colonel ; Cornelius Murphy, major.

" Out of the regiments which the Irish nobility had raised in 1689, for the
service of James the Second, several were disbanded in Ireland. Most of those
who went to France were imbodied with those we have just been enumerating ;
the colonels descending to the rank of captain, and the captains to that of lieu-
tenants. The regiments of O'Neill, O'Donnel, M'Donnel, Maguire, M'Mahon,
Magennis, were formed into one; Edmond (Buoy) O'Reilly's shared the same fate.

" The regiments of Burke and Dillon were engaged at the battle of Cremona,
February, 1702, in which they particularly distinguished themselves, and con-
tributed mainly to the defeat of the enemy. As a mark of his satisfaction, the
king increased the pay of the foot captains, not only of these regiments, but of
thfee others which were on a footing with the French, to twenty-five pence a day,
and the lieutenants to twelve pence. The pay of the second captains and lieu-
tenants was increased in proportion. The soldiers, also, received one penny
a day additional. Dillon's regiment received their reward in hand, as they al-
ready had high pay.

" Sheldon's regiment of cavalry, to which a squadron was added, consisted of
three squadrons in the war of 1700. They distinguished themselves at the battle
of Spire, on tlie 24th of November, 1703 ; and the half-pay captains and lieu-
tenants, who served with it, received an increase of pay.

"In 1708, the king of Spain began to raise two regiments of dragoons, and
three Irish battalions, consisting of the prisoners taken from the English army in
the battle oi' Almanza. These corps were officered by the half-pay officers who
had served with the Irish regiments in France.

" Peace having been concluded at Radstadt, on the 6th of March, 1714, between
France and the emperor, the regiments of Lee, Clare, Dillon, Rothe, and Berwick,
were increased from twelve to fifteen companies, consisting each of forty men.
In order to make up tlie tln-ee new companies, the regiments of O'Donnel, wliich
had previously belonged to Fitzgerald and Galmoy, and a second battalion, which
was added to Berwick's, were disbanded. O'Donnel's was divided between the
regiments of Lee and Clare ; Galmoy's and Berwick's second battalions were
joined to those of Dillon, Rothe, and Berwick.

" From calculations and researches that have been made at the war-office, it
has been ascertained, that, from the arrival of the Irish troops in France, in 1691,
to 1745, the year of the battle of Fontenoy, more than four hundred and fifty
thousand Irishmen died in the service of France. [Independent of which, nearly an
equal number entered into the service of Germany, Spain, and Hungary.]

" Burke applied for, and obtained, permission for his regiment, which had often
served in Spain, (in order to avoid shifting,) to offer its services to the king of
Spain. This being granted, he proceeded to that country, and subsequently
served with distinction in Sicily, Africa, and Italy, during the war of 1733, under
the king of the Two Sicilies, to whom his father, the king of Spain, had sent him

792 IRISHMEN IN FOREIGN SERVICE. O SULLIVAN.

in 1758. Burke's regiment remained in Naples ; it was called the king's carps,
and received an addition of two battalions,

" Through the changes which took place among the Irish troops in France, the
kmg of Spain was enabled to increase his three Irish regiments of foot by a bat-
talion each, so tliat he had six made up of the supernumerary men who remained
unemployed in France. They served at Oran, in Sicily, and in Italy, in 1733,
1734, with the highest distinction. Four of these battalions, with the Walloon
guards, were successful, in 1713, in repulsing the enemy at Veletry, and in saving
Don Philip, who was in danger of being taken prisoner."

The O'Sullivans have nobly distinguished themselves through every
generation and age of Ireland. In the Elizabethan wars, the exploits
of the O'SuLLiVAN Beare were the theme of the bards of that age ;
and succeeding historians have not failed to emphasize his deeds. They
are a very ancient Milesian fauiily, descended from OlioU Olioll, king of
Munster before the Incarnation. They possessed three baronial castles,
of great strength, in the county of Kerry. The castles and lands of
Dunkerron were theirs, which extensive property was seized by the
English monarch in 1602, and given to Sir William Petty, the founder
of the Lansdoivne family . Sir William was sent over to Ireland to make
a survey of the confiscated lands, called the '• Down survey," and ob-
tained a considerable share of the plunder for his pains. Sir William
Bethem tells us that Kerry O'Sullivan, the last of the unfortunate family,
built for himself a mud cabin in the ruins of Ardea Castle, once a princely
residence of his ancestors. He clutched, in his misery, the old title-
deeds and records of the property, and his poverty, but not his will, wrung
them from him. The O'Sullivans are scattered. Branches of the family
are to be found in the city and county of Kilkenny, where they have
ever distinguished themselves as genuine lovers of liberty and Ireland.
One of the family was returned to the English parliament, member
for the county, on repeal principles, in the election of 1832, and retired
to make way for O'Connell, when he lost his seat in some other contest.
The Kilkenny O'Sullivans have acquired considerable wealth by com-
mercial pursuits, and are now equal, in that particular, to the proudest
of their lordly oppressors. This family, like their proud nation, exem-
plified, in their own persons, the inextinguishable vitality of their race.

Our countrymen have, as it appears, been upon every battle-field of
Europe; and it is not at all improbable that the anecdote related by
O'Donovan, about Napoleon's grandfather being an Irish soldier, named
Gaul BurJce, who fought at the battle of Aughrim, is true. Andrew
Jackson, quite as brave and good a soldier as Napoleon, was the son of
an Irish father and an Irish mother, and the world need not wonder if
the fact of Napoleon's Irish origin should be established more distinctly.

IRISH F^XILES. 793

There is no part of the world to which the sons of Ireland were not
driven, on the Pall of James the Second, The scattered intellect of her
vital soil may be traced by tl^e light which it shed on science and on
arms. Our countryman, Michael Kelly, one of the first musicians
of Europe in his time, tells us, in his " Reminiscences," that when he
was at Naples, in 1787, the Russian fleet sailed into the bay, com-
manded by Admiral O'Dwycr. And when, a few years after, he dined
at the table of the emperor of Austria, at Vienna, there were present,
among the distinguished guests. Marshals Lacy, O'Donnell, and Kava-
nagh. Marshal Lacy was born of Irish parents, in Russia ! Kava-
nagh, he tells us, addressed him in Irish, which he not understanding,
the emperor turned round, exclaiming, " What ! Kelly ! don't you
speak the language of your own country?" — In South America,
through the armies of Spain, in which Irishmen were ever honored,
very many of them rose to the highest rank in the dependencies of
that once powerful nation. The very last Spanish viceroy of Mexico
was O^ Donohue. The present governor of Cuba, General O' Donnell,
is, of course, Irish descended. An Irish brigade, commanded by General
Devereiix, fought under Bolivar in the revolution of 1823. The ven-
erable Devereux is still living in Tennessee. Colonel 3TKenna, who
fought by the side of O'Higgins, in Chili, deserves a record among the
good and the great. The first explorer and founder of a civilized com-
munity in Texas was Magee. (See Niles's Texas, page 208.) And
the president of the little senate of the new settlement of Oregon is
also of Irish descent.

I have, in other pages, glanced at the share which Irishmen had in
the republican struggles of the United States. The flag of resistance to
British supremacy was raised in Philadelphia by Charles Thompson, an
Irishman, so early as 1765, who agitated with "Molyneux's Inquiry" in
his hand. This was ten years before the states combined, and took the
field. And the man whom the first American congress appointed as
their secretary was this same Thompson, who retained his post to the
triumphant termination of the struggle. There were four or five Irish-
men present, and signed thedeclaration of independence, — Smith, Tay-
lor, Thornton, and Carroll of Carrollton. Smith commanded the
"Pennsylvania Line," which may be called the "Irish brigade" of
America. When the time came for taking the field and the ocean,
Montgomery, next in command to Washington, led the northern army,
and Barry was appointed to the Lexington, the first war-ship built by
the confederated states. The first came from Donegal, in Ireland ; and
the second, from Wexford.
100

794 SARSFIELD.

Francis the First, emperor of Germany, left the following memoran-
dum amongst his papers, which was found after his death, in 1765 :
" The more Irish in the Austrian service the better ; our troops will
alwaj^s be disciplined ; an Irish coward is an uncommon character; and
what the natives of Ireland dislike, even from principle, they generally
perform through a desire of glory ;" — which means that, though Irish-
men have sometimes been obliged to fight on the wrong side, yet their
paramount love of glory has caused them, for its sake alone, to risk
life freely where certain death awaited them. When Maria Theresa,
the queen of Hungary, instituted fifty crosses of the legion of honor,
to be given to the men who should most distinguish themselves in her
wars, forty-six of them were won by Irishmen.

One of the bravest officers in the French army now (1844) in
Africa, is Colonel O'Keefe. His name has been mentioned with great
praise by Colonel Tempoure. O'Keefe and his brave companions (the
twenty-sixth) were brought into action, after a march of twenty leagues,
(performed in fifty-six hours,) with knapsacks and arms, under the
broiling sun of Africa ; and his exploits at that action are trumpeted
through Europe.

I have reserved the most brilliant soldier of all this war for the last
page of my prolonged lecture.

He was the illustrious Patrick Sarsfield, earl of Lucan. His
brother, the earl of Kilmallock, was killed leading a charge at Aughrim.
The inheritance of the Sarsfields was a territory near Sligo. I cannot
trace their pedigree to remote Milesian generations ; but it matters not.
Patrick Sarsfield commanded a regiment of Sligo horse at the
Boyne. When King James fled, and the fortune of the day decided
against the Irish, Sarsfield and Tyrconnell secured a good retreat for
their discomfited army to the western side of the Shannon, on which,
as the event proved, they made capital arrangements to repulse the
enemy all along the line from Cork to Sligo.

It was this Patrick Sarsfield, who, with five hundred brave
horsemen, passed out of the city of Limerick, while closely besieged by
King William, in 1689, and, crossing the Shannon twelve miles above
the city, gallopped to the rear of King William's camp, blew up his train
of artillery and wagons of ammunition, just arrived from Dublin, killed
the guards that protected it, returned behind his city walls, and all
within hearing of the Orange kino-.

It was this Patrick Sarsfield that animated the brave men and brave
women of Limerick to that supernatural courage which they displayed

SARSFIELD. 795

at the first siege of that city, when they stood in the breach and drove
the invaders off; and, had the destinies of Ireland and King James been
left in his hands, King William would most assuredly have been de-
feated, and Ireland would have been erected, under the exiled monarch,
into an independent kingdom.

But fate ruled it otherwise. St. Ruth, the talented but conceited St.
Ruth, was sent by the French king, to command the Irish, after those
brilliant achievements of Sarsfield had been performed. It was the
condition upon which the aid of money and ammunition alone would be
given. We have seen how he commanded, in his shameful loss of
Athlone, the key of Ireland. Sarsfield's great spirit could not brook
such trifling with the dearest interests of his country. He was present
in St. Ruth's tent on the morning he refused aid to Athlone ; and, though
he, the second in command, urged the French marshal to despatch this
aid, he received for reply the contemptuous answer, " Don't the English
know I am here? "

When the town was lost, Sarsfield's indignation knew no bounds : he
challenged St. Ruth on the spot, but the friends of the great cause in-
terfered, to reconcile them.

The following poetic sketch of the quarrel is taken from a beautifully
written tragedy, entitled the '•' Battle of Aughrim," which was pub-
lished and acted about the year 1770. We should be glad to see it
occasionally brought forward on the stage.

' Sarsfield. — Be calm, my soul ; my swelling spleen, assuage,

And curb the boiling madness of my rage :

Now let the earth be in a chaos hurled ;

Let earthquakes rise and overthrow the world;

Let gloomy vapors veil the dusky air;

And let all mankind sink beneath despair ;

Let Sol and Cynthia now wuhdraw their light,

And let tiie stars no longer rule the night,

But let all nature be extinguished quite!

O heavens ! Athlone is lost, that lovely seat,

The pride of empire, and the throne of state ;

Thy sons are slaughtered, and thy walls betrayed,

Because that traitor Avould not send thee aid ;

But I'll revenge the wrong, and he shall fall ;

The crime is great, though the revenge is small.

Come, draw! and let your sword afford your heart relie£
St. Ruth. — Consider, Sarsfield, I am here your chief! —

Your country's ruin would attend our strife.
Sarsjield. — No thought but that could save your life.'

« • * * •

796 SARSFIELD.

The quarrel had not time to be healed at the battle of Aughrim, and
this prevented Sarsfield knowing the commander-in-chief's plan of battle,
which was unknown to any when he fell, — a chief cause of the Irish
defeat that day.

After the treaty of Limerick with King William, Sarsfield, at the head
of four thousand men, passed over into France, and, in the French
king's service, defeated the troops of that same William, in many a
well-fought field of the Low Countries. He was killed in the midst
of victory at the battle of Nerwindle, 170L* As the life-blood gushed
from his heart, he caught some of it in his hand, and, looking at it,
exclaimed, " O, if this blood had been shed for Ireland!'^ These
were his last words. When will grateful Irishmen erect to him a monu-
ment in that noble city of Limerick, which he so well defended, and
at the walls of which his valor extorted those terms from the invader
which restored to many noble and wealthy Irish families their present
estates. France, more grateful, has erected for him, in her most splendid
city, (Versailles,) a monument, inscribed to " Patrick Sarsfield, Earl
of Luc an," in letters of gold.

The names of O'Brien, earl of Clare, and several more of our exiled
countrymen, are to be found in this hall of honor. There are no less than
four paintings in it of the battle of Fontenoy, won from the English by
the Irish Brigade, on the 11th May, 1745. In these, the Irish Brigade
is conspicuously seen charging the flying enemy.

These are the " lessons of history " which teach us to rely more on
ourselves than on others, in accomplishing our freedom. If the Irish
have one addiction more, damning to their freedom than another, it is
ihe\v pride, which renders them jealous of each other, and, therefore, un-
willing to obey each other. Any coxcomb of another nation can lead
or command them ; but to each other, howsoever fitted by nature and
acquirements some may be to lead in counsel or in battle, the most
ignorant will hardly yield obedience. If I could exude my heart's blood
into my pen, I would write with the ruddy drops, — to this addiction
IS Ireland indebted for her fall, and her sons for being the

SLAVES of every NATION UPON EARTH.

* I have seen another account which makes the scene of his death the field of Lan-
don, and the time 29th of July, 1693, while leading the victorious charge against
King William.

MUSIC AND POETRY.

797

THE WOMEN OF LIMERICK!

DEDICATED TO THE LADIES OF LIMERICK,

BY T. MOONEY.

^jr, " Garryown."

rah for the wo - men of Lim - er - ick town,

=5:

'n \'

3e:3:

Whom the pow - er of Wil -liam could nev - er put down!

Hur - rah for brave Sarsfield ! tho' dead in his grave, His

-fy-jfy

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T— ^ a -

1^ _l*«i TH^- V

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-"^ ^- *

& . * * ^ ±

spir - It yet

val - iant and brave.

And if ev - er the day shall come a - gain, When

Lim - er - ick wo - men and Lim - er - ick men Shall be

-f

-h

— .w-

called to the breach to de - fend their own land, May

Da Capo,

115 ^-

'n:

we all be there just to give them a hand.

798

ftlUSIC AND POETRY.

Remember the treaty of Limerick Stone ;
Remember they broke it wiien Sarsfield was gone ;
Our cloth manufacture they crushed without cause ;
And they struck down our rights, our religion, and laws.
But if ever we trust the Saxons again,
Who butchered our women, our clergy, and men.
May we ever be slaves in the land of our sires.
And bundled and burnt in Sassanagh fires.
Then hurrah, he.

Of all Erin's cities, there never was one
That stood out for freedom like old Garry own ; *
For years in their garrison bravely they fought ;
And never were conquered, or frightened, or bought.
And the daughters of Limerick we ever shall prize,
For brave are their hearts, and bright are their eyes ;
And if ever the Sassanagh f strike them again.
We'll be over and save them, with plenty of men.
Then hurrah, &ic.

Popular name for the city of Limerick.

t Intruder, invader.

I'LL LOVE THEE NO MORE.

-^--w-

!?»L

-^ 1

. * r# •

"H"

L When the rose-bud of summer, its beau - ty be

stow - ing. On win - ter's rude blast all its sweetness shall

pour, And the sun - shine of day in night's darkness be

MUSIC AND POETRY.

799

-- i -^-±9—1.

— IP 9 ^

=pi:

glow - ing, O, then, dear - est El - len,

"I I

I'll

T-

love thee no

I'll love thee no

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"1 — I — I — I *^~#~ ~
#~g — g — I

more.

And the sun - shine of day in night's

«^»n — i—

dark - ness be glow - ing, O, then, dear - est

"*i^

'91

* El - len, I'll love thee no

more.

When of hope the last spark, which thy smiles loved to cherish,

In my bosom shall die, and its sweetness be o'er;
And the pulse of that heart, which adores thee, shall perish,
O, then, dearest Ellen, I'll love you no more.
And the pulse of that heart, which adores thee, shall perish,
O, then, dearest Ellen, I'll love you no more,

I'll love you no more, I'll love you no more,
O, then, dearest Ellen, I'll love you no more.

* I have heard Erin substituted for Ellen, with a pleasing effect, in this beauti-
ful song.

800

MUSIC AND POETRY.

FORGET NOT THE FIELD.

BY MOORE.

De3P0NDINGL7.

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1. For - get not the field where they perished,

hnS'

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The tru - est, the last of the brave ;

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All gone ! and the bright hope we cherished

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Gone with them, and quenched in

their grave !

^Sr7P~

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MUSIC AND POETRY.

801

O! could we from death but recover
Those hearts as they bounded before,

In the face of high Heaven to fight over
That combat for freedom once more !

Could the chain for an instant be riven,
Which Tyranny flung round us then,

O ! 'tis not in man, nor in Heaven,
To let Tyranny bind it again !

But 'tis past, — and, though blazoned in story
The name of our victor may be.

Accursed is the march of that glory

Which treads o'er the hearts of the free '

Far dearer the grave, or the prison.

Illumed by one patriot name,
Than the trophies of all, who have risen

On Liberty's ruins to fame !

MY DARK-HAIRED GIRL.

S'~.2

MUSIC.

THE BATTLE OF AGHRIM,

(CACH EACTROMA.)

Presto and Furioso.

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DATE DUE

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BOSTON COLLEGE

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Moone?yy Thomas

A history of Ireland?

41427

Bapst Library

Boston College
Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02167

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Full text of "A history of Ireland, from its first settlement to the present time, including a particular account of its literature, music, architecture, and natural resources ... illustrated by many anecdotes of celebrated Irishmen, and a series of architectural descriptions"

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